Stargazer In the Moonlight
by MoonyLover17
Summary: Remus J. Lupin is an unusual case; he's a soft-spoken, studious werewolf with attention deficit disorder who's about to join Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He later learns he fancies one of his best friends and can't tell them the truth. He just wants to fit in with everyone and not get noticed. Can Remus survive seven years of secrets? Slight AU. Pairing RL/SB
1. Chapter 1: Train to Hogwarts

Chapter 1: Train to Hogwarts

"Mum, it's not like I'm going away forever. I'll see you both again on Christmas," eleven-year-old Remus Lupin comforted his mother, hugging her tightly as she shook with silent sobs.

"Yes, you're right Remus," sniffed Hope Lupin as she released her son and turned to her husband. "He's just like you, Lyall; strong and brave."

Lyall Lupin, a tall, blonde, soft-spoken man in his early thirties looked around platform 9 ¾ wistfully before replying to his wife.

"But he has your charm and grace, love," he said extending his hand to his son and embracing him in a one-armed hug. "Study well and make memories. We'll see you soon, son."

Remus grinned, looking up into his dad's eyes, which were the same shade of blue as his own, and gave him a confident nod. "Bye, Dad. Love you both," he smiled and pulled his trunk onto the train behind him.

'_This is going to be brilliant and wonderful_,' thought Remus to himself as he waved to his parents one last time and entered the first train compartment which at first glance seemed to be empty.

It wasn't, however, and Remus saw a sleeping couple on the floor, linking hands before he backed out and shut the door quickly and quietly.

The next four compartments were filled with groups of five to six students, and Remus doubted they would readily invite him into their already noisy compartments. He was passing the fifth door when he caught up to a short and slightly chubby fellow first-year, who looked to be out of breath and struggling with his trunk and owl cage.

Remus paused for a moment and thought quickly.

'_If_ _I just stand here he'll have to do it all by himself and he looks like he's struggling. I should help him_.'

He took a step forward then stopped.

'_But_ _if I offer to help him he might insist on helping me find a compartment in exchange for my assistance. Then we'll become friends and-NO! I can't risk that… But I can't just watch him struggle_!'

Remus took a deep breath and cleared his throat, making up his mind.

"Do you need some assistance?" he asked the blonde-haired boy.

Round and sweaty-faced, the other boy turned towards Remus and his eyes grew in apparent fear.

"N-no thanks," he stuttered squeakily. "I c-can manage."

Remus sighed. '_He's more nervous than I feel. I'll help him. He probably won't want to talk anyway after we settle into a compartment together_.'

He smiled kindly.

"I can help you carry your owl if you'd like. I only have my trunk, see? It won't be any trouble."

Looking like he'd sooner rather struggle with his possessions than let the other boy help him, the smaller boy grimaced and shook his head.

"Umm," he said looking around distractedly the finally nodding. "O-okay. Thank you-"

"-Remus," the taller boy supplied extending his hand to shake the other's. "Call me Remus."

"Peter. Peter Pettigrew."

Remus shook Peter's hand then took his cage from him, regarding the bird inside with interest. It was a strange-looking owl: lime-green in colour with angry-looking eyes and a long, pointy beak. Its feathers were oddly ruffled and stuck up on end in a mad-bird sort of way. It looked to Remus as if the bird might attack him through the cage bars at any second, so he carefully arranged his robe hems and made sure to grab only the handle at the top. He made a mental note to look up the species later to see if it was dangerous in any way.

He followed his new acquaintance a few compartments down where a red-haired girl exited a compartment along with a pale-faced, hook-nosed boy dressed in black robes two sizes too big for him. They both looked rather angry, and Remus thought it better to avoid eye-contact; his father had warned him against crossing paths with angry witch or wizard.

Peter Pettigrew entered the compartment behind the two grumpy students, and glanced nervously back at Remus as if asking for permission. Remus smiled kindly and followed him in.

"-imagine why anyone would want to be in Slytherin, though," a boy in the compartment was saying.

"They're just missing out, they are," said a second voice.

Remus stepped inside behind Peter cautiously and peered around discreetly. Two boys with dark hair sat facing each other, swinging their legs from their seats. They both looked to be in first year too. The one on the left had aristocratic features about him; long, wavy black hair pooling onto his broad shoulders, handsome dark eyebrows arching over startlingly beautiful grey eyes, and a slightly long nose centered in the middle of his heart-shaped face. Remus made sure to sit as far away as possible from the wizard. He knew he would no doubt be criticized and mocked for his own shabby, worn-out robes, but he would rather not sit in plain view of a wizard whose dragon-leather boots looked like they were worth more than Remus' whole house.

Remus fiddled with the hem of his own robes and spared the second boy a quick glance. He also looked well-cared for, though in a more subtle way. Well-fed and well-dressed, he looked about Remus' height, with very untidy jet-black hair. He had soft hazel-coloured eyes behind square-shaped glasses.

Remus smiled to himself. '_Wealthy but not in an obnoxious way,_' he thought. He liked that.

"Ah, are you two Gryffindor-haters too?" asked the longer-haired boy, in a very aristocratic accent. "Come to give us a preview of what to expect this year?"

Remus swallowed and cleared his throat.

"I haven't got a problem with Gryffindor House," he said slowly, trying to make himself sound polite. "I've read in 'Hogwarts: A History' that Godric Gryffindor-"

"Looks like we've got a Ravenclaw here, Sirius," chuckled the bespectacled boy to his friend. "Already done our required readings, have you?"

The sandy-haired boy blushed. "It's not required," he said in a small voice.

The boy called Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "Even worse!" he exclaimed loudly. "You read **extra** material?!"

Remus' blush intensified and he quickly cast around for something else to say to divert everyone's attention from him.  
"Uh, Peter and I hope you don't mind if we share this compartment with you," he said, gesturing to the chubby boy opposite him, who went from pale to crimson-red in the space it took for Remus to bring everyone's attention on him.

Peter smiled tentatively as the bespectacled boy spoke.

"Sure," he said shrugging, "as long as you're not hoping to be in Slytherin. My dad says there's always been rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin House since during the Founders' time. Gryffindor and Slytherin are the least likely of friends and no one has broken that tradition yet."

As Remus opened his mouth to respond, Sirius laughed loudly, shaking his head like a dog trying to rid itself of water.

"It's not so much tradition as it is a **law**," he said when he stopped laughing. "Gryffindor and Slytherin just **can't** be friends. It's not natural." He flipped his hair out of his eyes and sat back in his seat with folded arms, as if that settled the matter.

Remus shrugged. He didn't like arguing, but thankfully he didn't have to say anything more because right at that moment, a short, plump woman with a trolley of the largest collection of sweets Remus has seen in a long time entered the compartment and asked if they wanted any sweets. Remus' mouth watered as his eyes fell on the chocolate frogs, but then he dropped his gaze again when he remembered he didn't have any pocket money. He sighed inwardly.

Sirius and his friend immediately began rummaging in their pockets, huge grins plastered across their faces while Peter jumped up to get a closer look at the trolley's collection. For a few moments, Remus watched sadly as the three boys selected a variety of assorted sweets and paid the trolley lady large sums of money. Just before she retreated out the door, the young witch smiled at Remus and asked not unkindly: "Wouldn't you like anything, dear?" and Remus politely declined.

"Don't you like sweets then?" asked the boy whose name Remus still didn't know once the witch had closed the door behind her.

"I think he can't afford anything," stated Sirius so nonchalantly that it made Remus cringe a bit.

Suddenly, the two dark-haired wizards exchanged a quick glance and chucked Remus two chocolate frogs each.  
"N-no, I can't," stammered a surprised Remus, catching the chocolates in his outstretched hands.

"Just accept it and move on," advised the boy in glasses not unkindly.

The sandy-haired boy swallowed nervously and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I can't accept it," he said firmly, handing back the chocolates. The other two refused to take it.

"Why? You think we've poisoned them?" asked the one called Sirius in amusement.

"Nah, it's because we're strangers, isn't it?" laughed the other. He lifted his right hand in a friendly wave. "Hi, I'm James Potter. And this tosser here," -he nodded towards his friend- "is Sirius Lee Black."

Sirius let out another bark-like laugh.

Remus cleared his throat for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. "Remus Lupin," he said in what he hoped was a friendly manner. James nodded in understanding and turned to Peter.

"And you're Peter…?"

Peter nodded and said something around his mouthful of chocolate which sounded remotely like "Eager goo."

Sirius burst into fits of laughter, spluttering out what he thought he heard Peter say, and Remus thought he needed to step in for his blonde companion.

"Peter Pettigrew," he supplied for the poor boy fit to burst.

James turned back to Remus and said "There," in a tone that suggested the matter was closed for further discussion. "Now that we all know one another's names, will you accept our chocolates, Remus Lupin?" as Sirius burst into fresh fits of laughter.

Remus smiled despite himself.

"Thank you. I will accept your generous offer."

The Hogwarts Express raced past sceneries of green Scottish landscapes, until around nightfall when Remus looked up from reading his Charms textbook to check how much time they had left before they reached school.

He craned his neck past the taller boy to look out the window and saw something that took his breath away; a large, beautifully-lit castle sat in the distance at the top of a hill, overlooking a big lake that was as wide as the castle towers were tall. Remus' eyes rested on the castle's gates of iron as he imagined seeing the magical enchantments keeping intruders out. He'd read all about the protective spells cast around the school in 'Hogwarts: A History,' and was fascinated by the amount of magical energy he knew must be radiating from the gates alone. 'It has to be the safest place on Earth to be,' he thought to himself in awe as the train slowed down to a station a short way off.

"We must be here already," James said excitedly, looking up from the Quidditch magazine he was reading with Sirius.

Sirius flicked his wand in the direction of his trunk and levitated it, nodding eagerly. "We should change into out robes."

Remus got up to put his book away and shivered with excitement as he felt the train lurch to a stop. He was really going to Hogwarts! He could barely believe that after all the worrying about not being accepted into the school, Remus was finally just a short distance away from it…

Walking behind an excited James and a practically-bpuncing Sirius, Remus dragged his old battered trunk onto the platform of Hogsmeade station and breathed in the night's air. _Beautiful_.

"Firs' Years over here!" called a loud voice above the noise of the train whistle and the loud chatter of students of all ages.

Feeling particularly fond of everyone around him, and beaming at all the faces in the crowd, Remus followed the sound of the voice calling over new students. To his slight surprise, Remus realized the voice was coming from a larger-than-average human being, with a long, bushy beard and matching curly, matted hair framing his young face. Looking more closely and pushing his way carefully through the crowd, Remus saw that the wizard was about twice the size of an average adult. He would have looked frightening if not for the kind smile upon his bearded face and the twinkle in his round eyes. Remus knew better than to judge a person by appearance alone, and allowed himself to get closer to the big, friendly-looking wizard with the other first-year students.

"Alrigh' gather 'round, gather 'round!"

A couple people started pushing past Remus to get to the front, and Remus heard someone mutter, "Bloody huge bloke, isn't he?"

"Right, my name's Rubius Hagrid," said their escort fondly to all of them once they were gathered. "I'm the keeper of game at Hogwarts. All Firs' Years get to the castle by boat on their firs' day, and I'll be the one escorting you there tonight."

A witch to Remus' left thrust her hand up in the air, and Remus turned to find the same red-head who had left his compartment before him in an angry manner with another boy. With a jolt, Remus realized that the same boy was standing to the girl's right. Hagrid looked over at her and lowered his lamp slightly, smiling encouragingly.

"Yes?"

"Will the boats be carrying our things as well?" she asked doubtfully.

"Er-no, no," he responded. "Just leave yer things here on the platform, and they'll be magically transported up to your dorms once you've been sorted into your houses."

There was a few mutterings and murmurings at this, but then Hagrid said "Follow me now, you lot. Keep up," and turned towards the lake and started walking.

Remus found himself walking beside Hagrid as the other students hesitantly left their possessions where they were and slowly followed the game-keeper.

"Hello there, Remus," chirped Hagrid cheerfully down at the startled boy.

"H-how do you know my name, Sir?" he asked a shakily.

"Oh, just intuition. You alright there?"

"Yes, Sir. Thank you."

"So what house do you reckon you'll be sorted in?"

"Er-"

"He'll be in Gryffindor with us!"

Remus turned and saw the source of interruption: the two dark-haired wizards from his compartment on the train were walking alongside Hagrid and Remus, taking long strides to keep up with the game-keeper who looked down at the pair for the first time.

"Yeah? You lot want to go fer Gryffinor then? That's great. Real great. Hope one of ya can play Quidditch. Our team hasn't won in-"

"I'm planning on joining the tram next year," James piped up proudly. "I'm quite good on a broom."

"Well I'm trying out this year," Sirius exclaimed rather haughtily. "Once they see how well I fly, they'll be on their knees groveling to me to join the Gryffindor team!"

Hagrid chuckled. "You sound mighty sure of yerselves, that's fer sure. Alrigh', we'll see then. This year, we've got Captain Greg Wood and he's got some flare fer game, that one-"

Remus zoned out as Hagrid talked about the team players on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. His mind drifted to more worrisome matters at hand. What if he doesn't get into any house at all? Remus had read about how new students get sorted into their houses in front of the whole school, by trying on an ancient talking hat who read into their minds, telling them what house was better suited to their abilities and personal qualities. What if the Sorting Hat didn't think Remus was worthy to be in any house? What if the hat read into Remus' mind and saw him for what he truly was, and exposed him to everyone? Remus worried his bottom lip. '_But the headmaster must have known what he was doing when he sent me that acceptance letter_,' he tried to assure himself. '_He must have, or I wouldn't be here right now.' _

Just as that positive thought had formed inside Remus' head, Hagrid stopped walking and turned to face the sea of new students behind him, holding up his lantern to shine to shine it on everyone.

"Righ'," he beamed. "Here we are. Just across the lake now, so everyone grab a boat and hop in."

Remus shook his head slightly to rid himself of his daydreaming and looked to where the game-keeper was pointing. There, sitting at the edge of the lake were about a dozen fishing-sized boats, floating like waiting lily-pads. Remus swallowed hard; he'd never learnt how to swim before and he wasn't particularly comfortable with water transportation.

"Only four per boat," called Hagrid as everyone grabbed their friend and jumped into a floating vessel.

Remus looked around for James and Sirius, but found them already aboard a boat with two others. He searched around for Peter instead and, when he couldn't find him, quickly spotted a nearby boat with only two students seated. He rushed towards it and got in slowly, muttering apologizes as the boat rocked gently and swayed from side to side.

Once all the students were seated, Hagrid got into his own boat-built-for-eight and waved his hand. Instantly, all the boats started moving ever so gently above the lake towards the castle. The scene was so breathtakingly-beautiful that Remus forgot to be nervous as he magically drifted above the large expanse of dark water.

Passing under vines and through a narrow tunnel, the vessels continued on until at last reaching the rocky shore, stopping there.

Everyone followed Hagrid onto dry land and up the castle grounds towards the massive oak doors. He knocked on it three times. Remus sucked in a breath and closed his eyes in avid anticipation.


	2. Chapter 2: Sorting Surprises

Hello, my dearies! Thanks for being patient with me :) Here's the second chapter yay. Oh, a couple things before you read on: I realize the dangers in placing a certain "someone" in a certain house. I do. I've done so on purpose for later chapters as you will later find out mwahahah. Also, I've looked everywhere for Alice's maiden name, so I made one up for her. Hope you lot don't mind.

I tried my best last time to separate the chapter content from my header and footer notes with page breaks, but that just resulted in the header and footer being invisible for some reason or other :/ So, here's my second attempt (here's hoping it succeeds) at posting an eligible chapter! Enjoy! And please forgive me if the paragraphs don't turn out indented. I've tried, really I have :'(

Disclaimer: Siriusly, people! Why would I even pretend to be Queen Rowling? I have so much respect for her that I'd like to think she created my dreams! DO NOT SUE! I am not making money out of Jo's creations!

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Chapter 2: Sorting Surprises

"You're late, Hagrid," came a crisp voice from behind.

Remus turned to look and saw a witch, no older than his own mum, standing near-by wearing a stern expression on her face. She was dressed in a pointy black hat atop her head, and long, flowing dark -green Wizarding robes. Tiny, square reading glasses sat perched on the tip of her nose, as she eyed Hagrid and the students with him above her specs fixedly. The way she scanned the mass of First-years made Remus slightly uncomfortable, and he was almost certain that she was looking for him- the headmaster had written to Remus saying that the whole staff of Hogwarts would be informed of his attendance at the school. Remus shifted slightly to the left of the half-giant to obscure himself at least partly from the gaze of the stern-looking witch.

"Sorry, professor McGonagall," Hagrid apologized quickly, as Remus tried to make himself inconspicuous. "Had to make sure all the Firs'-years heard me above the noise, ya know?"

McGonagall replied with a curt nod, "Very well. I can take it from here, Hagrid. Follow me, students."

She made her way to the doors and opened them, stepping through, everyone following closely behind. Remus gasped softly as he took in the scene before him; it looked like something from Remus' favourite Muggle storybook: 'Beauty and the Beast.' It was a massive entrance hall with hundreds of paintings and statues lining the walls. Just below the high ceiling were lit candle lights all along the walls. On the opposite side, Remus could see a great big staircase going all the way to the high ceiling. Each set of stairs was moving- detaching themselves from landing to landing, and transferring to another landing, winding and turning making Remus feel dizzy as he watched. Instead, he turned to the crowd of First-years around him and looked for familiar faces.

The hooked-nosed boy with greasy black hair was talking to the girl in red hair excitedly. Both with huge grins on their faces, they looked much less nervous than Remus felt, and he wondered if he was the only Hogwarts student in history to have ever been scared of being sent home on the very first day. He scanned the crowd again. Somewhere near the front of the group, James Potter and Sirius Black walked with confident strides behind Professor McGonagall, animatedly discussing something that had them both alight with excitement. All around students were joking and laughing with their friends, while Remus felt like he'd rather turn around and find his way back across the lake. He wasn't feeling eager to start school anymore.

Suddenly, Professor McGonagall turned and lead the students into an empty classroom, closing the door slightly behind them. She walked to the front and faced them, taking care (Remus knew) not to glance twice at Remus.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she said addressing them all. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of this school and Head of Gryffindor House. In a few moments you will begin your sorting. You will each be individually sorted into one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw. During your time at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family; you work hard to earn points which will be counted at the end of the academic year. Any misbehavior, rule-breaking or failure to perform well in your classes will result in the loss of house points. The House Cup is awarded at the end of the year to the house with the most points-"

At this point, Remus began staring unfocused to a point above the professor's shoulder, imagining himself being the one to win all the points for his house and earning his house the Cup. He smiled to himself discreetly and began making mental notes on how to do the best he could in school.

"-extremely important, Mr. Lupin! Pay attention!"

"S-sorry? Oh-uh…"

Remus quickly fought to wipe the vivid images from his mind, and fixed his gaze back to the angry professor. He noticed also that he was being stared at by almost everyone and he flushed in embarrassment- not only were they all looking at him, they now knew his name thanks to McGonagall. He sighed softly and tried to focus on what the professor was now telling them.

"-back to lead you all to the Great Hall shortly," she was saying with an annoyed frown. "Do not leave this classroom." She walked out.

The moment the door closed behind her, everyone started chattering away, and it was to Remus' relief that no one wanted to discuss him and his embarrassing blunder.

"My dad was in Gryffindor, I'm sure I'll be in it too!"

"I wonder if we have to write a test?"

"What happens if we qualify for more than one house?"

Remus shook his head- they were worried about the silliest things! His hands shook as his mind swirled with worrying thoughts, and the seconds ticked by…

The door to the classroom opened and the stern professor stood in the doorway.

"We're ready for you now, students," she said, in her crisp voice. "You may follow me this way for your Sorting."

Everyone shuffled through the doorway and towards two large golden-brass doors, which opened to reveal a gigantic hall full of students seated at long, rectangular tables. As Remus took in the shocking scene before him, he realized there were four tables ('_one for each house_,' thought Remus), each with students wearing their respective house colours. His eyes scanned each table as he walked by, reciting to himself: 'Blue for Ravenclaw, green for Slytherin, yellow for Hufflepuff, and red for Gryffindor.'

Professor McGonagall stopped at the other end of the hall, where the staff were seated, and faced the nervous First-year students. Remus noticed there was a stool a short distance behind her with an old, worn-out looking, pointy brown Wizard's hat sitting on the top, and he paled. 'Was that where everyone would sit to get sorted?'

"When I call your name," said the professor, now holding a sheet of parchment, "you will come forward and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head so that you may be sorted into your house.

"Alderman, Lucinda."

A little girl with long, dark brown hair made her way slowly to the stool and sat down, looking almost as fearful as Remus himself was feeling.

Professor McGonagall placed the old hat on the girl's head, and stood back a little. The hall went silent, and Remus distracted himself from his worrying thoughts by scanning the staff table. He recognized Professor Dumbledore immediately with his midnight-blue wizard's robes, and half-moon spectacles. The headmaster had visited Remus' house in the summer to convince Remus' parents to let him attend Hogwarts. Despite their reluctance, Lyall and Hope Lupin had agreed to send their son off to school under certain conditions. The headmaster had seemed exceedingly kind, and Remus had immediately felt a rush of respect and gratitude towards him. Remus smiled at the fond memory of Dumbledore bewitching his own robes, turning them a hot pink colour, presumably to ease Remus worries and to amuse him. It had worked well; the young boy had giggled like a child, almost upsetting his cup of ginger-root tea, much to his mother's displeasure.

"Ravenclaw!" the Sorting Hat exclaimed loudly, and the daydreaming boy shook his head a little to bring himself back to the present.

The little girl was so relieved that she jumped up from the stool and run to the table of Ravenclaw students, taking the hat with her!

Professor McGonagall had to retrieve it from a prefect, who had held Lucinda by the arm gently to take off the Hat.

Next was a ginger-haired boy named Augustus Abbott, who was sorted into Hufflepuff, and then came Sirius Black, grinning like he was being offered the best gift any eleven-year-old could possibly get. It took about a minute, but Sirius was finally sorted into Gryffindor, and he happily ran to the sea of students in red, who applauded him with vigor.

Remus' mind again clouded with doubt and worry. He missed the sorting of several students before McGonagall announced "Lupin, Remus!" and the sandy-haired boy almost collapsed with terror. '_This is it_,' he thought to himself as he blindly made his way past the remaining Firs-years, towards Professor McGonagall and the hat, onto to the slippery, wooden stool, trembling as he felt the Sorting Hat make contact with his head.

There was silence until-

"Ah, another difficult one," came the deep voice inside Remus' head. The frightened boy tried to take deep, calming breaths before he realized he was muttering, "Please-please let me stay. Please-please-"

"You have great bravery about you, Lupin," the Hat went on in that ancient voice, which sounded to Remus as if it knew more than Mother Earth herself did. "I remember when I put your father in Gryffindor. Yes, you have his courage, that much is clear… but you also possess loyalty and cleverness… two qualities very hard to come by simultaneously…"

Remus sat up a little straighter, now realizing that the Hat was going to Sort him into a house after all.

"Gryffindor seems the best choice for you, I think. Yes… GRYFFINDOR!"

The surprised young wizard let out a breath he never knew he was holding and almost wept in relief. He ran to the Gryffindor table, and all that was going on in his mind was '_I'm staying! I'm staying in Hogwarts! I'm staying_!' He didn't even remember watching his two other train companions, Peter and James get Sorted into the same house as his.

After all the new students were Sorted into the houses, the stool and Hat were taken away, and the last round of applause died. Dumbledore stood and a great hush filled the air, as everyone eagerly waited for their headmaster to speak.

"Welcome," greeted the bearded wizard, extending his arms wide as if to embrace the entire Hall of students and teachers, and smiling so broadly it might have been Christmas Day. "Welcome to our new students, and to our old students, welcome back to another year at Hogwarts! I have a couple announcements to make, however… before I do, please-enjoy the wonderful feast!"

He clapped his hands and everyone in the hall turned their heads to their respective tables. Bewildered, Remus followed suit and saw that the table before him was now covered in the largest variety of foods he has ever seen. It took him a moment to process it all, and he blinked slowly to allow his mind to focus on the assorted pies, roasted meat and various other dishes Remus couldn't even put names to. He made a mental note to write to his parents about the range of foods at his (and a hundred others') disposal. He felt slightly uneasy as he ladled himself a spoon of mashed potato, and two spoonfuls of vegetable casserole. He'd never been offered so much choice before!

All around him, students were laughing and joking as they ate, sharing stories about their summers or else discussing their first night back at school. They seemed to already know one another, and Remus didn't know the first thing about making friends. He looked up hopefully when he felt a nudge to his side, and grinned lightly when he came face-to-face with James Potter.

"You made it to Gryffindor, eh?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, I guess," he muttered shyly."Wasn't expecting it. Don't feel very brave, to be honest."

James shrugged. "Bravery comes in all forms. Maybe yours isn't so obvious, but it's there. Hey, you want a roasted chicken?"

Remus eyed the drumstick James was holding warily and shook his head. "No thanks," he said turning back to his almost-empty plate. "So where's Sirius Black?"

"Oh, he's at the end of the table with his adoring crowd."

Remus looked up and followed James' gaze to where a couple Second-year girls were practically purring on either side of Sirius. There was a blonde to his right and a brunette to his left, and it looked to Remus like they were offering the boy everything off their own plates, though judging by the huge grin on his face and the speed at which he was eating, it didn't look as if Sirius was bothered at all about any of it. Remus frowned slightly at the way Sirius winked at the girls, and returned to his plate.

"Most pure-bloods get treated that way at home," explained James, undoubtedly referring to Sirius' behavior with his fawning fans. Remus nodded, not really understanding, but James went on. "He's the first Black to be in Gryffindor. I bet all the girls are just dying to get to know him. Although… I'm not too sure his family would exactly jump for joy at the news, wanting to keep family tradition and all…"

"Doesn't look like he cares either way," commented Remus before he could stop himself.

James chuckled, looking back over to where the pure-blood was now being spoon-fed his lasagna and sausages. "We've known each other for only a few hours, and yet I feel like I've known him all my life. No, he doesn't give a toss about what his family thinks of him, and he thinks that the angrier he makes them, the more he's accomplished in life." He chuckled again and shook his head.

Just then, something silvery in Remus' peripheral view made the boys turn their heads, and a smartly-dressed ghost figure floated by, nodding his greetings to the new students.

"Hello, Nick," waved an older boy with red hair and glasses several seats down from where Remus sat with James. "Had a good summer?"

"Oh, yes, thank you very much," replied the ghost nodding, his head swiveling dangerously on his head as though about to fall off. "It was indeed a very pleasurable break from all the chaos that comes along with having a castle-full of students-"

"What it is that ghosts do all day?" asked a girl with black plaits, interrupting Nick, who didn't look very pleased.

The girl sitting next to her, who looked to be about fifteen or so, shook her head in warning and answered, "Oh, I'm sure Sir Nicholas has plenty to do during the day, don't you, Sir Nicholas?"

"Certainly, dear child!" beamed Nick proudly. "As ghosts of the ancient houses of Hogwarts, we are duty-bound to-"

"Does it hurt to die?" said a loud voice from the other end of the table, and Remus was slightly taken back to find Sirius leaning forward in his seat, his eyes sparkling with mirth, and his face contorted in attempt to keep from laughing. "How does it feel to snuff it?"

The two girls on either side of Sirius burst out laughing and Sirius sat back in his chair looking very pleased with himself. Remus stared.

It appears the Gryffindor ghost was equally as shocked as Remus was, and twice as affronted. He puffed out his chest and floated closer to Sirius and his now-giggling gaggle of girl-fans.

"I hardly think it polite to ask of a noble knight to recount his most painful, yet most honorable moments in his life-"

"So it **was** painful!"

Remus, having heard enough of the exchange between the two, and foreseeing a nasty ending to the conversation, turned back to his food and addressed James.

"When do you think we get our class schedules?" he asked mildly. He didn't want to seem too eager to start learning, and give James reasons to believe he was meant to be in a different house.

James shrugged and chewed on his last bit of mashed potato before reaching for more chicken. "Probably tomorrow morning at breakfast. I heard that our head of house hands them out to us."

According to Remus, he would have to make time to run upstairs after breakfast and empty out all the textbooks he didn't need for the day; otherwise he'd have to carry around a heavy back-pack all day long unnecessarily. For a few moments, he pictured himself rushing to finish his meal, before making his way to the Gryffindor dorms, perhaps losing his way, sorting out his school bag, and then finally checking his schedule one more time while running to his first class. He grimaced. '_Surely, I can find a way to finish breakfast ahead of time so that I'm not rushing myself_!'

Suddenly, there was a tap on Remus' left shoulder and he turned. It was the boy who got sorted ahead of Remus. '_What was his name_?' Remus thought desperately, trying to remember.

"Could you pass me the pumpkin juice, please?" he requested politely of Remus.

The other boy nodded, but before his hand could reach the jug, everything on the table disappeared to be replaced by an array of puddings, custard cakes, and desserts that Remus has never even seen before. He smiled apologetically to the shorter Gryffindor and handed him a bowl of orange custard instead.

"Thanks," beamed the other. "I'm Frank Longbottom. You're Remus, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded."Right." '_How does everyone remember my name_?'

"Do you know Mary-Ann Lupin by any chance?" Frank asked him.

"Yeah, she's my dad's cousin. How do you know her?"

Frank smiled a little sadly and looked Remus straight in the eye. "She was my mum's best friend," he informed the other boy. Remus noticed the past tense.

"Was?" he questioned, confused. He was sure his second cousin was still alive.

Frank nodded. "Yeah, something happened between them, I suppose. My mum won't tell me. But I think it was something big for them never to speak to each other again."

It was odd to think that his cousin would never want to talk to someone ever again; Remus always knew Mary-Ann to be a charming, bubbly young witch, with many friends. She didn't strike Remus as the grudge-holding type. He frowned.

"Do you happen to know when this- ah friendship fallout happened?" he asked Frank.

Frank chewed his dessert slowly and swallowed before responding. "Probably before we were even born. I think my mum said they were friends at Hogwarts…"

Remus let that sink in, serving himself something which looked remotely like his mum's pumpkin pie onto his plate. '_Mary-Ann had a best friend whom she's now not speaking to. That's really sad, especially for someone like her_.'

The tables cleared themselves clean, as the headmaster rose to his feet once more, beaming fondly at the sea of students before him.

"Now that we are all nicely stuffed with the wonderful food selections of the Welcome Feast, I beg you all lend an ear to some important announcements before I send you off to your warm and welcoming beds.

First off, please join me in welcoming our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Richard Jensen."

The hall gave a polite round of applause to the tall, balding wizard at the staff table, who stood up rather eagerly, to bow respectfully and give a small wave. Remus noticed the way his eyes shifted back to the Ravenclaw table once or twice before winking at them and taking his seat again.

"And now for a few small reminders to the older students, which will serve as a warning to our new-comers: Mr. Filtch has requested that I state, yet again tonight, that the use of dung bombs in the corridors is strictly forbidden. As is the use of Peruvian Instant Darkness powder, the jelly-legs jinx and a variety of other hexes now posted on Mr. Filtch's office door, if you would be so kind as to read them.

I would now like to announce that the new willow tree planted in the school grounds is exceedingly dangerous and strictly off-limits. Anyone foolish enough to attempt to approach the tree will be severely punished- if not first killed at the hands- or should I say, branches- of this rather aggressive tree."

Several people laughed at this, though Remus did not; he knew **exactly** why the tree was there and why it was off-limits. He shivered ever-so slightly.

"My last announcement shall be about the library hours. Madame Pince has kindly extended reading hours at the library to eleven o'clock PM, for students who wish to do some extra studying in the evenings. This new timing will be in effect starting tomorrow, for every day of the week, and will go on until the end of the semester. Meetings will be held to discuss whether or not the hours should be kept as such for the following semester. But until then, enjoy and make good use of the extended library hours, which Madame Pince has so generously placed for you.

"And now, without further ado, let us make our way to our comfortable dorms, so that we may all be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for tomorrow's lesson. Pip-pip now, off you go!"

All at once, students here and there rose from their seats and left the tables. Remus looked around for Frank, James or Sirius, but found none of them anywhere near-by. Thankfully, he heard a female voice call, "All First-years over here, please! First-years…" and he followed the sound to the end of the table where Sirius was sitting with his adoring crowd. A girl with short, curly ginger hair, wearing a Head Girl's badge on her school robes stood with one hand on her hip, and the other waving in the air, calling First-year students to her attention.

"Now, really! First-years, over here please!"

Remus stumbled on his own feet in his hurry to get to the Head Girl, and hit the floor with a small thump. Several students around him gawked at the boy on the floor in surprise, and Remus, embarrassed by his fall, quickly pulled himself to his feet and straightened his robes, flushing furiously. Carefully, he avoided everyone's gaze and stood behind the line of First-year Gryffindors.

The Head Girl made a quick head-count, then loudly announced that they should follow her to Gryffindor Tower in pairs.

Looking around quickly and spotting a quiet girl standing off to the side all alone, Remus joined her, giving her a fleeting smile and nod of acknowledgment. She smiled back, eyes shining with glee from behind her large, round glasses.

"I Saw you coming," she said in a sort of misty voice.

"Oh, um…" Remus didn't know how to respond to that. How could she have seen if her back was turned towards him? The girl shook her head, her bushy hair waving about, and said, "I mean, I knew you were coming. I could sense your presence."

Remus nodded again, frowning slightly and followed the rows of students ahead of him, now making their way to the big staircase. All the way up he thought that he perhaps ought to keep a very low profile for the time-being, until he knew the sort of people he'd be better off making acquaintance with. Peter, James and Frank seemed nice enough. He wasn't so sure about Sirius anymore, and he definitely did not want to get too personal with Miss I-Can-See-Your-Aura. He glanced sideways to the girl and quickly turned away again; she was staring at him with a fixed gaze, shaking with what Remus assumed to be excitement. '_I really hope she doesn't read my mind and discover my secret,_' he thought fearfully.

They reached the top landing where a life-sized portrait of a woman dressed in pink stood, possibly blocking their entrance. Remus, puzzled, watched as the Head Girl addressed the portrait confidently and spoke the words, "Leo fortissimus," to which the woman in the portrait nodded her ascent, swinging her portrait forward to reveal a doorway into-

"Welcome to the Gryffindor Common room. Here, you can study, relax or simply play a game of Wizard Chess with your mates between classes. Your house is your family, so you should treat your house mates as such. You must abide by the rules of the Common room, and respect when students need the space and silence for revision and studies. Please report to either myself, the Gryffindor Head Boy, Arthur Weasley, or any Gryffindor Prefect should you have any questions, concerns or complaints, and avoid any form of misconduct stated on the list you see before you. Questions?"

Remus tentatively put up his hand, and the Head Girl nodded at him.

"Er- about the dormitories-"

"Ah, yes," said the Seventh-year girl cheerfully, "I was just getting to that! Yes, the girls' dorms are through here, and the boys are through there. I have a list of the dorm allocation right here- Ah, yes… Right, for girls: it's Evans, McMiller, Johnson and Bryan together in dorm 1. And Trelawney, Peters, Lancaster, and Manning in dorm 2.

"Boys: Black, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew together in dorm 1. Longbottom, Brown, Patil-"

"C'mon," a voice hissed in Remus' left ear, making him jump. "Let's go!"

The slightly startled (but not sorry) Remus detached himself from the group, and followed James Potter up the steps into the boys' dormitory, keeping a safe distance behind the two dark-haired boys, and ahead of the nervous, mousy boy behind him. The dormitory looked reasonably pleasant and well-suited to four young school lads. Remus chose the four-poster bed furthest away from the door, and closest to the bathroom. He thought it much safer that way. All at once James and Sirius started speaking in loud voices, disrupting Remus' train of thought. He scowled miserably and dug into his trunk, searching for a decent pair of pajamas, then hurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

When he came out from the loo, the three others were still fully dressed. James was joined with Sirius at the latter's bed side apparently looking through some magazine or other, while Peter sat arranging his clothes in piles, glancing every so often in the direction of James and Sirius.

Ignoring all things around him, and feeling more tired than he'd felt all day, Remus hopped into his bed, burying himself in his warm blankets, and falling into the deepest sleep he'd ever known in his life since becoming a werewolf.

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Well? What do you think? Better than chapter 1? Worse? The same? Please let me know :D Oh and about the A.D.(H)D things... please don't bother trying to convince me it's not real (even though it shouldn't matter since this is fiction), because you'll only be hurting yourselves! Thanks lovelies :)


	3. Chapter 3: Discovering Differences

Helloooooo once again my lovelies! I present to you chapter three! :D Pleas review when you're done reading. It would make for a very happy me!

**Disclaimer:** J.K Rowling? Me? HA!

AN: This hasn't been beta'd my lovelies so expect many errors. I just can't bring myself to get a beta :/

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**Chapter 3: Discovering Differences**

It was not his alarm that woke Remus Lupin up from his deep and comfortable sleep. Nor was it his dream, which consisted of seven naked, Sirius Blacks dancing on the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. But rather what did, was a great big scream coming from somewhere to Remus' right. It spoke volumes of pain and humiliation. Remus lifted his head from the pillow and looked over to his dorm-room mate.

"WHO DARES TURN SIRIUS ORION BLACK'S HAIR PURPLE?!

It was then that Remus realized two things: 1. that Sirius' middle name was not, as James had said on the Hogwarts Express, Lee, but in fact Orion and 2. that Sirius was screaming about his hair.

'_Someone probably hexed him in his sleep_,' thought Remus, lazily rubbing his eyes, after having to jump out of his bed like a Nundu preparing to fight. It was true that Sirius' hair was bright magenta, but why all the fuss? It was 4.30 in the morning, and Remus' brain hardly ever functioned well before six. Sirius could just use the counter-hex to reverse the affects. Remus sighed and got up to use the bathroom. He predicted much more disturbed sleep throughout the week.

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"Good morning, Remus."

The sandy-haired young werewolf almost choked on his breakfast when he heard the cheery female voice from his left-hand side. He tried to swallow his scrambled eggs, and turned to address the speaker.

It was the red head from the train.

"Good morning," he said uncertainly.

"No need to sound so frightened," the girl giggled. "I was just saying hello."

'_What now_?' Remus thought desperately. '_What do I say_?'

"I'm Lily Evans," the girl continued, bringing her spoon of scrambled eggs close to her mouth. "Nice to meet you."

"Um, nice to meet you too. I-"

"Have you started reading up for our classes? I don't think I quite understand the basics of the of the levitation spell, although the others seem fairly straightforward…"

Remus stared in wonder at the girl before him, barely taking in a word she was saying, and trying to understand why she would choose to sit next to him rather than anybody else.

"-Oh and by the way," Lily was now saying. "Sybil was looking for you this morning. She was devastated that she couldn't find you in the Common Room. Apparently, you were supposed to wait for her."

Remus blinked. "Who?"

Lily looked at him incredulously as she responded, "Sybil Trelawney! You paired with her on our way to Gryffindor Tower last night! Honestly, you can't tell me you don't remember her!"

The wheels in Remus mind turned too fast for him and images of the previous night flooded his memory.

Chirpy girl with bushy, brown hair.

Big eyes behind round glasses.

The girl staring at him all the way-

_Oh_.

"Er-I'm really sorry about-er-abandoning her-"

But Remus was cut off from his apology by a loud whooshing sound and short yelp coming from the doors. Distracted by the odd sound, he turned to locate the source and nearly inhaled his porridge.

At first glance, it appeared to Remus as if a giant bat had found its way through the Castle gates, and was now making its way through the Hall Doors. But then Remus realized it was a student tumbling through the air, and landing rather ungracefully on the hard floor. He lay still for a few moments, during which Remus held his breath and stared at the mass of black robes on the floor. Then the student lifted his head and revealed the face of-

"SEVERUS!"

Lily Evans left her seat and hurriedly made her way to the hooked-nose Slytherin on the floor, crouching beside him to check for any sign of injury. Remus' brows furrowed as he caught sight of the two First-year Gryffindors sneaking into the Great Hall from behind, wands out, laughing like madmen as they approached the Gryffindor table. Lily spotted them too and immediately rose from tending to her friend after she was certain there was no serious injury, glaring at James and Sirius furiously.

"You should apologize to him instead of walking away, laughing like a couple of hyenas!" she exclaimed loudly for the whole room to hear.

The two boys froze and turned to face her, badly-concealed guilt plastered on their faces.

"It wasn't us," they said together, and Remus would've believed them if not for the slight twitching of their lips.

"Oh, what rubbish! You deliberately attacked him and sent him flying in here-"

It was too much for James and Sirius; at the mention of the word "flying," they both burst into raging fits of laughter, clutching their stomachs and thumbing each other on the back.

Lily, scowling angrily at them, shook her head in disgust and walked Severus to the Slytherin table, ignoring the boy's protests and mutterings.

"What is going on here?"

Professor McGonagall had made her way over from the staff table with a look of utmost astonishment on her slightly-lined face.

Lily, having returned from escorting her friend, Severus, to the Slytherin table, seized the opportunity to express her anger at James and Sirius and explained to the professor what she had witnessed. McGonagall listened intently, her eyebrows disappearing further and further into her hairline with every word. Finally, when the First-year had stopped speaking, and James and Sirius finally managed to reduce their laughter to a minimum, McGonagall addressed the boys, stern and firm.

"Ten points from Gryffindor. This is exactly the sort of misbehavior I was referring to last night when I warned you about misconduct. I am surprised at you- on the very first day- why, I never witnessed such disregard for school rules in the Great Hall!"

Having the decency to look at least slightly ashamed of them-selves, James and Sirius nodded and hid their grins, muttering "Sorry, Professor."

"As well you should be," replied McGonagall, eyes still fixed on the two students. "Next time, it will be detention for the two of you."

Her eyes lingered on them for a little longer as they found their seats at the table, before she started handing out sheets of parchment to everyone at the Gryffindor table.

_ 'It must be our timetables_,' thought Remus.

And sure enough, when the Head of Gryffindor House reached him, she glanced at the werewolf once before shuffling through her papers and handing him his First-year, school timetable.

It seemed he had Charms as the first lesson of the day. Nervous excitement consumed Remus as he finished his breakfast and made his way out the doors, to look for the Charms classroom. He wanted to be there early to practice his wand-work before anyone else arrived.

He located the classroom easily and sat himself at the front, near the teacher's desk, opening his Charms textbook to the page on the levitation spell. Remus sniggered. It was the spell James and Sirius probably used to force that poor Slytherin boy through the Great Hall doors. Or maybe it was a hex. Whatever it was, Remus had to admit it was good spell-work, and he wondered how they were able to do the spell before learning it in class.

A few moments later, Remus was muttering an incantation under his breath, trying to levitate his quill more than a few inches above his desk. He succeeded on his second try, and smiled to himself admirably. _Well, done Remus_.

The werewolf had barely practiced the spell for a third time when the classroom door opened and the first set of students came in. He quickly shut his textbook, stuffed his wand back into his pocket, and pretended he was looking for his note book.

Five minutes later, Remus found himself listening to tiny Professor Filius Flitwick, who was so small he had to stand on a pile of books in order to be seen as he taught. He had a squeaky sort voice, which was greatly annoying to young Remus' extremely sensitive hearing. Nonetheless, the young werewolf found the class enjoyable, and was awarded ten house points for being able to levitate his feather successfully on the first try. None besides Lily Evans managed to lift their feather more than an inch, but Remus highly suspected it was more because of lack of trying on James and Sirius' part than anything else, since he witnessed their 'human levitation' first-hand only this morning.

The next few hours found Remus mastering the transfiguration spells in Professor McGonagall's double Transfiguration class, and excelling at Herbology, impressing Professor Winters and earning Gryffindor House yet another ten points. At this point, Remus was feeling rather pleased with him-self, and looked forward to studying for his classes at the end of the day. His glee turned to frustration however, when he found himself stumped at producing a particularly smelly potion in Professor Slughorn's Potions class, and peered glumly into his cauldron, now filled with acid-green goo. Remus sighed then gagged at the strong fumes. _Merlin's pants, it reeked_!

"You added a billywig stinger instead of horklump tentacles, Remus," the boy next to him said in a whisper. "Stir the potion clockwise three times."

Grudgingly, Remus did as Frank Longbottom told him, and checked his potion contents. Still an icky sort of swampy-green, the potion was now smoking slightly and Remus had to plug his nose to prevent his breakfast from making an unwanted appearance.

'_Now what_?' he thought miserably. Why was Potions so difficult for him? He's read and reread his textbooks over the summer and thought he'd understood the directions perfectly, but now that the students were all told to concoct the potion ('_What potion was it again_?') on their own in this heavily-fumed dungeon classroom, Remus was performing badly- even worse with his head feeling as if it were about to explode and his stomach about to lurch. He looked around at Frank desperately.

Frank was checking his notes and frowning slightly. His potion was a soft pink colour and bubbling only just. The werewolf felt a sinking feeling in his midriff; if that was how the potion should have looked by now, Remus' was nowhere near complete. The Potions' Master was now inspecting the students' cauldrons with nods of approval and grimaces of disgust, and Remus was positive he would receive a grimace, if not a cuff on the head for being a complete idiot at following instructions.

The teacher was now approaching Remus and Frank's table, and Remus was trying desperately to change the colour of his cauldron contents but failing miserably. Instead of chopping his squid, he started squeezing the juice out using his badly-sharpened knife, and ended up getting squid juice in his eyes. Yelping in surprise and disgust, Remus dropped everything he was holding and blindly groped at his robes, rubbing his now sore eyes with his soaking-wet sleeves. This resulted in Remus jumping up and down in distress, as his eyes began to sting painfully, and he was only slightly aware of Slughorn's surprised tones and the class's astonished gasps. Suddenly, his hands were pulled away from his face and he was handed a small bowl of clear liquid. He squinted at it and dipped his fingers in, hurriedly rubbing his increasingly sore eyes which immediately began to feel better at his touch. He applied the soothing liquid a couple times more before he blinked open his eyes and tried seeing through the hazy mist of the classroom.

"Feel any better, Mr. Lupin?" Remus heard Professor Slughorn ask. He nodded in the general direction of the teacher's voice and swallowed, gazing at the girl in front of him still holding the bowl of clear liquid in her hands.

Lily smiled softly.

"That's good to know," came the professor's relieved voice. "The way you were leaping around the room, one would think you had set your eyes on fire, Mr. Lupin! Well… I think you should go see Madam Pomfrey in any case. Go on, we don't want any nasty reactions from your poorly-concocted potion, young man."

"I'll take him, Professor!" said an overly-cheery female voice Remus hadn't heard since the night previously. He groaned inwardly.

"Of course, my dear girl. Just be sure to be back in time to receive the mark for your potion."

'_Well_,' thought Remus glumly as Sybil Trelawney lead him out the dungeon classroom amid snickering and jeering from the Slytherins. '_At least I won't be there when Slughorn announces that my potion gets a zero_.'

Remus' mind reeled with thoughts of the potions lesson as he made his way to the infirmary with the bushy-haired girl, who stared and stared as if Remus were some kind of rare and endangered breed of Chimaera.

She didn't say anything (not that he want her to, to be honest) until they reached the doors of the hospital wing where a young medi-witch was bustling about, tending to students in their beds, muttering about "dangerous classes on the first day."

"Umm," Remus began, scratching his head awkwardly, "Thank you for accompanying me here."

The Gryffindor girl beamed and nodded rather aggressively, as if she were trying to expel water through her nose. "Does this mean we're friends?"

Remus' heart sank. He was afraid of this.

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He was stressed, he was over-worked, and he was completely and utterly exhausted. Remus Lupin wished for nothing more than a week's worth of holiday to catch up on his sleep.

It was the Sunday after his first transformation since he started school at Hogwarts, and Remus was trying to catch up on his missed homework in the library, forcing his eyes open every time they drooped, and lightly smacking himself whenever his mind wandered. He had snuck some hot chocolate from the kitchens under his cloak, hoping against hope that the librarian- an angry-looking witch with a permanent scowl upon her face- wouldn't notice the bulge in his school robes. Now that the hot chocolate was finished, Remus' brain was crashing and he fought against his tired mind.

"It would help if you had someone studying with you."

Remus jerked awake and nearly fell out of his seat in his attempted to sit up in his chair. The girl in front of him smiled gently in his direction- Lily Evans. Again.

Remus sighed softly. Why did she have to come to him every time he was in the library? Wasn't there anyone else she could disturb in her free time?

"Lily, I…" he began. '_What do I say? How do I tell her gently?_' "I can study on my own, thanks. I'm OK."

"Well, you're obviously not if you're falling asleep at 8PM! Let me help you, Remus."

"No, please-"

"Why are you refusing my help?"

"I'm not refusing-"

"Yes, you are!"

"Please-"

The red head abruptly got up from the chair in front of Remus and walked around the table, her lips pursed, to stand directly beside the confused and tired werewolf.

"What you need is a little exercise," she stated firmly. "C'mon, we'll go for a little run around the library." And she pulled the exhausted boy to his feet, dragging him away from his table of a hundred or so textbooks.

Still sore from his recent transformation, Remus winced and stiffened with every painful step, but never complained. Lily walked with him, slowly at first, then picking up the pace to a slow jog, Remus gazing after her sadly, like a lost puppy.

"C'mon, Remus! It's not that hard. Just pick up your feet."

Lifting his right foot and hissing softly, Remus started mimicking Lily's movements, and soon the two of them were silently jogging around the vast Hogwarts library, actively avoiding Madam Pince's line of vision. The pain wasn't so bad once Remus set his pace and let his mind wander to other things. But he realized not long afterwards that Lily was talking to him. He switched his focus to the present.

"-used to jog all the time. Tuny of course was faster, having longer legs and all. But sometimes I would outrun her, and we'd both fall over laughing in the end."

'_Who_ _is she talking about? Ugh why wasn't I paying attention?! Remus_!'

"Oh, that's nice," he improvised.

Lily smiled knowingly. "Are you attention-deficit, Remus?"

The werewolf almost tripped on his own feet in shock, but continued on, pretending what Lily had said didn't affect him.

"What? Of course not-"

"You know you're a terrible liar, right? I can see right through you."

Remus sighed and nodded moodily. "Yes."

"Yes, you know you're a terrible liar, or yes, you're attention-deficit?"

Remus could hear the smirk in her voice even without glancing in her direction.

He'd had a very rough week receiving bad grades in Potions and even earning himself detention with Slughorn after he'd accidently blown up one of his cauldrons, being followed around by Sybil Trelawney, who, not only wanted to talk, but found it deeply entertaining to ask Remus questions about his past, and guess his answers before he spoke, and avoiding his roommates' questioning glances whenever he declined their offer to join them in playing a game of Wizards' Chess or Exploding Snap. Quite frankly, Remus was tired of having to hide all the time and pushing away the hands of friendship his peers were offering him. He often wondered what it would be like to have a friend like Lily, James or Sirius.

He stopped jogging abruptly, making a split-second decision to become Lily's friend; he knew she could be trusted.

"Lily?" he asked her softly. "Will you keep my secret?"

The red head gazed at him, a look of polite confusion etched upon her face.

"I mean," he tried again, holding her gaze. "Can you please not tell anyone about my erm… my attention deficit disorder?"

Remus held his breath as he watched Lily's features change to one of gentle fondness and understanding.

"Of course, Remus," she replied, grabbing his hands in hers. "We're friends, aren't we?"

The werewolf blinked. "Are we?"

A sweet, melodious laugh escaped Lily's lips as she giggled, still clutching Remus' hands. "Of course, silly! Oh, bless you- all this time you thought I was harassing you or something?"

Remus flushed in embarrassment and gave a tiny nod. Lily hugged him.

"I'm sorry for making you feel that way, Remus," she said in his ear, and he relaxed slightly against her as she embraced him.

Once she's released him, she held his gaze with her piercing emerald-green eyes, and spoke in a very serious tone.

"Now, as a friend, I'm going to have to see about scheduling a jogging session with you on the school grounds at least three times a week."

It was only after Remus had gone to bed that night, his mind whirling with the events of the evening that he realized he'd gotten what he'd wanted since he was bitten- a friend he could trust.

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Soooo? How did I do? This is gonna be the last chapter for a bit guys. I have finals coming up next week and I need to study. But please stay and be patient! I promise to TRY to not disappoint :D Love ya. Show some support: R and R!


	4. Chapter 4: Friendship Rules

_**AN: Apologies are at the end of the chapter. Enjoy! **__**J**_

_**Disclaimer: Sadly, I am not the famous Queen Rowling, and do not, however much I wish I could, earn anything out of writing stories using her characters. Harry Potter is not mine. *Cries***_

**_Warning: This fic is not beta'd. Mistakes are sure to come up..._**

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**Chapter 4: Friendship Rules:**

It just had to be cleaning! Why do teachers love setting detentions that include scrubbing, polishing or waxing in the job description?

Remus groaned.

"I just don't have the energy for this," he muttered quietly to himself, as he attacked a particularly filthy-looking brown cauldron with the equally-filthy rag Professor Slughorn had given him to use.

_I hate Potions, and it wasn't my fault the cauldron blew up! I hate being rubbish at Potions!_

Remus' angry, negative thoughts harassed him minute after minute, and he barely noticed what he was doing when Slughorn walked into the Potions' classroom two hours later.

"Not done, yet?" he frowned, his eyes on the cauldron pot in Remus' hands.

"Uh-no, I-"

"Do you want to be here all night, boy? Hurry up, will you?"

"Please, sir," Remus said, trying his best to sound polite. "This mould won't come off. May I-?"

"-No, you may not!" the chubby Potions Master cut him off angrily. "You will polish those pots until they are sparkling-clean, Mr. Lupin, to remind you to pay attention to the instructions of your potions. You have caused quite a disturbance in my class this week, and I will not allow this to continue any further. If that was your idea of a stupid joke-"

"-No sir, it wasn't. I would never-"

"You will do well to remember how to behave in my class, boy. Now clean the rest of your pots."

Watching the retreating figure of the Potions Master, Remus sighed and cursed his luck.

_I __**must**__ find a way to improve my potion-making skills!_

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"I'm sorry?"

"Your notes, Lupin. Surely, you know what those are! You're taking them right now."

Remus stared at Sirius Black with his mouth agape. '_This boy wants to take my History notes while he goes off with James Potter to play some stupid prank_?'

"Um," was his intelligent response.

"Don't lend them your notes, Remus! They're lazy and stupid, arrogant berks."

Remus checked that their ghost teacher, Professor Binns, was still droning on about Goblin Wars before turning to the red-head who had addressed him.

She was glaring at the two boys sitting behind her and Remus, who had just asked Remus to take notes they could copy after class. Lily turned her gaze to the sandy-haired boy next to her, her facial features softening.

"Let them know what it feels like to get rejected for a change."

Sirius growled from behind. "Excuse me, but Remus can decide for himself whether he wants to help us or not! You stay out of it, Evans!"

Lily let out a harsh laugh. "He wouldn't help **_you_** two! He knows better than that, don't you, Remus?"

Before the werewolf could answer, James spoke out, his voice somewhat hesitant. "We're his friends."

Lily spun around to face the bespectacled boy, her face set. "And what's your name?" she asked in a mock-sweet voice.

"James. James Potter."

"Well, listen here, **_Potter! _**The way you've been treating him is despicable. You can't possibly call what you do friendship, even by a small degree. You share a dorm with him, and yet you treat him like he's meant to be your servant, taking notes for you as you run off to-"

"We asked nicely enough!" James replied hotly, his ears turning a deep maroon. "It was a request, not an order."

"'Lupin, we want you to take good notes so we can copy them later after our prank,"' Lily said, in the best impersonation of Sirius she could manage.

"I never said it that way!" growled Sirius indignantly.

Remus quickly interjected, fearing they might draw attention to themselves. He nodded at James and Sirius quickly and said, "OK, I'll lend you my notes. I promise."

Lily shot Remus a look of astonishment which the werewolf ignored. He needed his roommates' approval.

Sirius and James beamed at Remus and hurriedly got off their seats, rushing towards the classroom door. The taller of the two stopped at the door and winked at Remus, making the latter flush uncomfortably and turn his attention back towards his notes.

"How could you let them just push you around like that, Remus?"

Jotting down notes on the history of goblin wars as fast as he could without straining a muscle, Remus shook his head and gave Lily an apologetic glance, hoping she would understand.

The witch wasn't giving in that easily, however. She reached out and pulled Remus' quill from his hand and hid it behind her back, out of the boy's reach. Remus took a calming breath and let it out slowly.

"Please give it back, Lily. I need that."

"No," she said firmly, folding her arms in front of her. "I won't let you make a fool of yourself on the hands of those two gits! You're better than that. Why can't you make friends with Pettigrew? He's nice, isn't he?"

Remus glanced around looking for the aforementioned wizard and spotted him fast asleep, with his head lolling to the side, drool dripping onto his school robes. Remus cringed.

"He-he doesn't really-I mean, I think he prefers being shot of me…"Remus said sadly. It was true that Peter Pettigrew seemed wary of the werewolf, but Remus could not understand why.

'Probably because he can see that I'm different,' he answered himself bitterly.

"Nonsense!" said the witch happily. "Try and make friends with him, Remus, I'm sure he'll take to you nicely."

Nodding just to end the conversation, Remus made to pick up his quill before remembering that Lily had taken it from him.

"Can I finish writing my notes now, please?" he asked politely, and Lily nodded sweetly, giving him back his feather quill looking a lot like she'd done Remus a great favor.

After classes, Remus and Lily took a walk on the grounds, Remus jogging a little faster like Lily had taught him, to refresh their brains for the studying they had ahead of them that evening. Lily was telling him about her friend, Andrea, who had been Lily's neighbor since they were both toddlers. Remus tried to find interest in the story- but couldn't.

"Lily," he began timidly, afraid he might hurt his friend's feelings with what he was about to tell her. "I can't… I mean, let's just focus on jogging, shall we? Let's not talk for a bit."

The witch immediately agreed with him and suggested they walk to Hagrid's hut, across the grounds.

"He's been very hospitable to me," she said about the game-keeper. "He likes to bake these rock cakes, which I can't really bite into but…"She trailed off with a faraway look in her emerald-green eyes.

They walked in silence, reaching the lonesome looking hut, which was smoking slightly, and heard a loud bark when they knocked on the door.

"Don't worry," Lily assured Remus when the werewolf leapt back in surprise. "That's just Linda, Hagrid's dog. She's very sweet and harmless."

Deciding to trust Lily's word that the dog won't bite any vital part of their bodies, Remus nodded and let out a breath he was holding. "Where's Hagrid? It doesn't look like he's home."

Lily checked around them, then went around the hut to make sure Hagrid wasn't lurking near the vegetable patch. She came back shaking her head sadly.

"We'll come back later," Remus assured his distressed friend, as they walked together toward the Black Lake. "Maybe he's just caring for some injured creature in the forest or something."

"Yeah," the werewolf heard his friend sigh sadly. "Maybe."

"So, why haven't you been spending time with Severus, lately?" he asked, partly to take Lily's mind off their missing friend for the moment. He didn't particularly care for Lily's Slytherin friend, who always sneered in Remus' direction whenever the werewolf was found to be in Lily's company. The Slytherin found it especially enjoyable to sit near Remus during Potions, and taunt him for his lack of competence in potion-making. During their Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, the two were often paired up by their teacher, for no one else could match their skill and reflexes. Severus would deliberately use a jinx on Remus while Professor Jonson's back was turned towards them, and the werewolf suffered without a word.

Remus knew that Lily and Severus had probably been friends since before they started Hogwarts, however, so he didn't want to upset his red-head friend by asking her why she was friends with such a horribly-mannered and repugnantly-hateful boy. Deep down, Remus suspected that the dark-haired Slytherin was most likely jealous of the time Lily spent with the Gryffindor. Remus sighed.

"Oh, Severus can handle himself," she replied, although something in her voice told Remus she wasn't happy with the topic of discussion. "He doesn't need me around him twenty-four hours a day."

"And I do?" Remus found himself asking, cheekily.

Lily smiled and turned to the now-grinning werewolf. "Apparently," she chided teasingly. "You can't seem to stay away from Potter and his mad friend, Black."

"Sirius isn't mad," Remus said, now slightly annoyed at the witch. "And they're my roommates, I have to try and get along with them!"

"I'm not saying you don't, Remus. What I'm worried about is that you sell yourself short, and seem to want to be nice to everyone, including those who aren't nice to you in return."

The sandy-haired wizard found his temper rising slightly. He clenched his fists and remembered the breathing exercises his coach had practiced with him since Remus was eight years old. He inhaled slowly, filling his mind with blue thoughts. Blue ocean. Blue sky. Blue bed covers. His favourite colour had always been blue. 'I miss Mum's blue mashed-potatoes,' he thought sadly, not noticing his mind wandering away from his line of thought. 'I wonder if I can recreate her mashed-potatoes on my own. It shouldn't be very difficult…"

"REMUS? REMUS!"

"Huh-wha-sorry?"

Lily had been shaking Remus, it seems, for the boy was now standing with his arms tight in Lily's grip, her face mere inches from his, her green eyes the picture of worry and concern. Remus felt bad for worrying her.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he apologized solemnly. "I didn't mean to worry you like that, I often zone out in the middle of conversations."

The witch continued gazing worriedly at him, the look of concern slowly ebbing away from her features, softening them. Remus, still motionless in Lily's firm grip, looked away and slowly tugged his arms away from his friend, hinting that he wanted her to release him. Blinking back tears, Remus swallowed as Lily slacked her grip then let go of him and took a small step backwards.

"I'll understand of you don't want to be my friend anymore, Lily," the werewolf whispered sadly. He took a step away from the green-eyed girl , in the hopes he could make a hasty retreat to his dorm and shut himself away from the rest of the world until classes resumed the next day. But Lily, perhaps sensing his intentions, quickly reached out again and gently took hold of his shoulders, keeping him still.

Avoiding her intense gaze, Remus fixed his eyes on his shoes and refused to look up, even when she put a soft hand on his chin and tilted it upwards so that he was facing her.

"Please look at me, Remus," she said quietly.

Overcome with an emotion so strong he couldn't quite understand, Remus swallowed again, then finally met her deep gaze. It was so concentrated that Remus wanted to look away again, but he held her stare.

Her voice was as soft as her touch.

"Don't be silly, your friendship with me can't be affected by something as trivial as you're A.D.D. And you're not someone anyone would want to lose a friendship with. You're kind, sweet and considerate. Who wouldn't want to be your friend?"

Hardly daring to believe his luck at having such a tolerant friend, Remus shook his head slightly and looked away sighing. "I'm not," he breathed out to her. "I'm not all those things you just said. You-you don't know me, Lily. I don't deserve your friendship-"

"-Remus, that's enough!" he heard Lily say sternly. "I may not know you as well as your mum and dad do. I may not know you as well as your childhood friend does, but at least I'm trying to get to know you. Don't push me away, Remus. I want to be your friend. It's my choice, and I believe I'm almost always right."

Laughing despite himself at Lily's obvious pride in her superior intuition, Remus nodded. "Yeah, you're almost always right."

"You'd better not forget it."

Looking up finally and catching his friend's eye, the werewolf let his mind drift only slightly off track, thinking that perhaps- just perhaps- he could one day tell this brilliant and furiously-valiant friend of his the secret he never ever considered sharing to a single soul. One day he would let her know about his lycanthropy.

"So," Remus started, walking closer to the lake and watching a couple of older students provoking the giant squid with a magically-enlarged fish. "Do you suppose, since we're remaining friends, that you could possibly assist me with concocting those repulsive potions Professor Slughorn assigns for us from now on? I don't seem to be able to follow the instructions properly."

Lily's smile could've lit an entire room had they been in one.

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"That's the worst idea I have ever heard, Potter."

"Yeah? What have you got for us, then, Black? Got anything better than the jelly-leg jinx?"

"Of course I do!"

Remus looked up from his Transfiguration homework and smiled discreetly. He longed to join in with Sirius and James' pranks, but he wasn't sure they would invite him to join. He therefore settled to dreaming up his own version of the other boys' prank ideas, watching them from behind the scenes. Once, Remus even planted one of his brilliant ideas deliberately under James' nose: the messy-haired wizard had just gotten out of the shower, still in a towel, when he announced to a roomful of sleepy eleven-year-olds that he came up with the amazing plan to prank the Slytherins by stealing all their clothes from their dorms. In fact, Remus had taken James' school robes and hid them in the shower stall, knowing that the bespectacled boy would find them when he got up to shower. Luckily for Remus, James completely overlooked the fact that his possessions were taken and never brought it up. Instead, he focused on a plan to safely hover the Slytherins' clothes out their window without their notice.

"You complete tosser!" James was now saying to Sirius half-jokingly. "You can't aim a jinx at the Slytherins in the Great Hall without any of the teachers noticing. Do you want a repeat of the McGonagall incident?"

"That Evans is a spoil-sport," Sirius huffed angrily. "If we do it without her seeing we'll be safe."

Remus couldn't help himself. He was going to offer his suggestion if the other two couldn't think of it on their own.

"Maybe if we do it from the under the table-"

"You should set up the prank before everyone enters."

The two dark-haired boys turned to look at Remus, astonishment clearly written on their faces. They stared.

Remus cleared his throat nervously, almost regretting having spoken his thoughts aloud. "Sorry, just thought you might've needed the hint."

He dropped his gaze to his book and made to turn the page when James spoke, his voice filled with awe and something else Remus couldn't quite place.

"You-you know how to plan pranks, Remus?"

The sandy-blonde looked up to see James' still surprised expression and had the mad urge to laugh. "Yeah, I guess."

"But that's brilliant!" exclaimed an excited Sirius, who seemed to have found his voice at last. "You can help us then, Remus. We know how clever you are- you're always getting those points for Gryffindor in class for answering questions and getting full marks on your homework-"

"-You would be able to earn points for Gryffindor too if you'd just pay attention in class," interrupted a slightly stung, but equally pleased, Remus. "You're clever too, you just don't…" He caught himself, not wanting to upset James and Sirius, both of whom he was still trying to earn the approval and acceptance.

James waved his words away. "Nah, we just don't have time for things as trivial as school work. Yes, we're smart," he added smugly. "But we're going to need your added smarts to our group of Marauders to help stir up trouble and cook up pranks."

"Marauders?" asked Sirius from the other side of the room.

James smiled, looking pleased with himself. "My mum told me it means something like outlaws or someone who runs from the law… I was called that when I was a kid."

Remus shook his head, smiling. "It means looter or mischief-maker, James. It's not exactly a good title to have, and it's very conspicuous. Now unless that's what you want-"

"Yes!" Sirius cheered with a triumphant laugh accompanying it. "Yes, that's exactly what we want, Remus. James, we shall be the Marauders. It's perfect! And you, Remus, shall be our private advisor, inspecting pranking ideas for flaws and loopholes. Yes, ha! I am a genius."

"What?" cried James indignantly, his eyes flashing with what Remus assumed to be anger, although he couldn't be sure. "What do you mean 'I am a genius?' Who came up with the name, and whol asked Remus to join our group and advise-?"

"-Yes, yes, you did well, Jamie my boy," Sirius said absent-mindedly, his face shining with what the werewolf hoped was nothing more than anticipation. He rather looked like he was scheming at the very moment, inside his very aristocratic mind, and Remus wasn't sure he was very fond of Sirius' ideas. He decided it would be safer for him if e spoke up now.

"Uh, listen. I-I can't take part in anything-ah-dangerous or-or could possibly result in expulsion or-"

But the other two weren't listening, and Remus looked up to find them both smiling menacingly at one another, as if they had somehow shared a whole thought-out evil prank through telepathy in the short space of time Remus was protesting feebly against violent and dangerous ideas. And the more Remus watched their silent but deadly exchange, the more his insides twisted with dread. Just as he was about to open his mouth to assure the other two that he wouldn't partake in any risky prank, the door to the dorm opened in walked the fourth resident of the room.

"Peter!" James cried out with obvious glee at seeing the chubby blonde, who immediately looked like he regretted entering the room. "How would you like to join the Marauders' group?"

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Terribly sorry to have left you for so long without updates, my lovelies. But here it is; a nice long chapter to satisfy your cravings :3 Hope you enjoyed. My laptop battery completely died, so even with the end of my exams I was still unable to type up a new chapter. Hope you forgive me! I was dying, too. You don't understand- I can't live without my laptop!

R and R, my dearies, and I might just update sooner than you think ;) Otherwise it'll just be Saturdays/Sundays as usual.


	5. Chapter 5: Marauder Mishaps

**Disclaimer:** Not Jo Rowling. Still not got hold of a polyjuice potion *cries*

A/N: Do I still have readers? :/ Ah well, enjoy! ;)

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**Chapter 5: Marauder Mishaps**

Dear Mum and Dad,

I'm terribly sorry for not having written since the first week of school, but as you can imagine, it's been rather difficult keeping up with everything here as well as having to remember my duties to you. That does not excuse me however, and I will do my best to convey all that has happened since you wrote me last time.

I'm still having trouble with Potions although a kind-hearted student named Lily is helping me with following the directions in class and assisting me with homework. She has been extremely helpful and has taken kindly to the fact that I'm attention-deficit. Don't fret though; I am taking care to keep my other secret hidden from her, and she is the only one who knows about my aforementioned condition. I know you have told me that I should not become too close to anyone lest they discover my infliction, but I assure you I am being careful. Lily will not cross the invisible line I've drawn for everybody.

Speaking of conditions, the medi-witch here, Madam Promfrey, is positively supportive and accommodating. Everything went as well as we expected it to go, just as Professor Dumbledore had said. At the designated time and place, I met up with Madam Promfrey, and she assisted me as promised. I thanked her profusely for her kindness and generous care, and she promised to aid me again next time. There were mere few complications- which the medi-witch was quickly able to rectify- and no one is any the wiser.

I must say that I miss you terribly, Mum and Dad, and wish Christmas time would come faster. Although the food is simply and marvelously scrumptious, I cannot pretend that I don't miss your delightful cooking, Mum. And despite my dorm being very comfortable, and my dorm mates acceptably easy to live with, it simply isn't the same as home. My roommates, James, Sirius, Peter and I are getting along swimmingly, and I am grateful for such luck, though nothing beats the comfort of having your hardworking parents accompany you to the living room to share a late-night snack in front of the Muggle television. I really miss you both, so much.

Please write soon.

Your loving and homesick son,

Remus

P.S: How is Lumos doing? Please give her lots of cuddles and kisses from me. I miss you ever so much.

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Our Dearest Remus,

When we said it would be better if you didn't write very personal letters, we didn't mean you had to estrange yourself to us. Your previous letter, though sounding very grown up and mature, scared us a little. Is everything alright, dear? You usually resort to being very formal and withdrawn when your mind is faraway and troubled. Please be natural with us, Remus, your father and I love the natural, easy-going Remus we're used to. It's OK to be scared sometimes and unsure of yourself, but please don't withdraw from the world and become a stranger.

This girl you've mentioned, Lily. She seems very nice, maybe you should confide in her. And Remus, dear, please don't misunderstand us: we never said you shouldn't make friends. No matter how much we worry about your special case, we want you to have someone to laugh with and spend enjoyable time with. Lily seems lovely and the perfect friend for you, so you shouldn't be afraid to become close. And in any case, Lily wouldn't know about anything; your dad has heard about the Evans family, and he's sure that they're fully Muggle. Don't worry, you'll be safe.

About your struggles with Potions, have you tried asking for your professor's help? I'm sure he'll be delighted to give you some private lessons or extra practice homework if you ask for it. As I don't know anything about this subject (your dad tells me it's like the Muggle subject, chemistry?), it might be best to do a little research in the school library for a bit of extra knowledge, don't you think? I'm sure that when you're here for the holidays, your dad would be happy to study with you. And stay close to Lily. Again, I'm very happy you two have met, and encourage you both to help each other with your homework and studies.

I'm very proud of you, sweetheart, and so is your dad. We both love you very much and wish the best for you. If you have any problems, we're just an owl away.

Send our regards to Professor Dumbledore, and our deepest and greatest gratitude to Madam Promfrey.

Your loving mum and Dad

xoxoxox

P.S: Lumos is missing you too. She prefers to sleep in your room, and walk all over your bed no matter how times I tell her not to. She sends you lots of wet kisses and slobbery hugs!

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The second week of October came and went without event, and Remus, ever the studious pupil, found himself buried up to his neck in textbooks and reference books from the library in his spare time. His roommates had found Remus' lack of cooperation in their event-planning very irritating and never missed a chance to tell him so. Although Peter didn't make much contribution to the prank-planning either other than showing up to meetings and applauding James whenever possible (which mildly amused Remus, as he never saw the shorter boy interact with anyone before more than shyly make a few comments here and there), the blonde was forgiven as he didn't seem to have any good ideas- or any thoughts on the other boys' ideas. Only when Remus was sure his roommates were pranking some unsuspecting Severus, or setting traps for the Slytherins to fall into did Remus feel it was safe to retreat to the dorm. Despite his ability to hyperfocus on his work while he studied and block out any noise coming from the rather rowdy occupants, the werewolf grew weary of their demanding questions asking him why he refused to help them with their planning.

"You have brains and you refuse to use them!" James furiously accused one evening, as he, Sirius and Peter sat on the floor discussing and arguing over stolen kitchen food.

"No," insisted Remus calmly. "I'm only opting to restrain from using my brain for silly pranks, in favor of filling it with knowledge from my textbooks. You would do well to do the same, you know."

"You sound like McGonagall," Sirius grumbled around his custard pastry. "Don't you know how to take a break from those books for a while? Surely you know more than you need to by now, even Ravenclaws don't study as much as you do."

Somewhat worried that Sirius' statement was true, the werewolf shuffled uncomfortably on his bed and rearranged his books on the bedcover. He tried to deflect the conversation away from himself.

"How did you manage to get into the kitchens anyway?" he asked the two dark-haired wizards now fighting over the last glazed doughnut. "I heard only the house-elves work down there."

"We tricked a Hufflepuff Firsty into telling us," James grinned proudly, puffing out his chest. "We told her we would teach her a few jinxes in exchange for her leading the way to the kitchen and letting us in."

Remus tried to imagine James and Sirius confronting an innocent Hufflepuff, perhaps scaring her with their talk of hexes and jinxes. He shook his head to clear the image and addressed James.

"And did you give her what you promised," he asked doubtfully.

"Of course," huffed James. "We're not liars."

"He just wants to know how to get in the kitchen too so he could stuff his face with chocolate pudding," laughed Sirius, whose face was smeared with pink icing from the cake he was eating. Remus felt the situation was funnier than it should be and hid a smile behind his arm.

"Yes," the messy-haired wizard added, his voice tinged with mockery and teasing. "We know how much Lupin loves his chocolate! Ickle Remus must-"

He was cut off by the burst of laughter coming from the usually-quiet werewolf. Shaking uncontrollably with mirth, and eyes streaming with tears, Remus held his stomach as he rolled about on his bed, kicking the sheets and pillows with surprising force. Ignoring the aches starting up in his sides, Remus laughed and laughed at Sirius' icing-covered face, not in the least aware of anything else. He'd never seen anything so **_funny_**!

Very slowly, the sandy-haired boy began to calm down, breathing in through his nose and stilling the bubbling in his abdomen which usually appeared when he'd been laughing for too long. He forced himself to sit up straight and look at a shocked and slightly amused James, Peter and Sirius. Face flushed and insides aching, Remus wiped away his grin and gestured to the wizard still dripping with pink icing. "I thought he looked funny is all," he offered feebly. "Never mind."

From the corner of his eye, Remus noticed James look curiously at his pure-blood friend and chuckle. "Yeah, it is a little funny."

Remus heard Peter start to giggle as well and looked openly at the two laughing wizards. They were probably doing their best to stifle their laughter, but that didn't stop Sirius from glaring angrily at them and attempt to wipe his face with his free hand.

"Eww," laughed James, pretending to gag. "Find a tissue, mate!"

The long-haired pure-blood glanced once at James then stuck out his tongue, wiggling it and extending the pink muscle to spots on his face it could reach. James laughed louder and Peter backed away tentatively, perhaps fearing catching whatever disease Sirius had that made him resort to using his tongue as a face towel. Meanwhile, Sirius was grinning madly, looking as if he was enjoying the attention. Remus was shaking his head and sniggering to himself too. He watched as Sirius began making bowing motions as if to a crowd exclaiming, "Thank you! Thank you, my adoring and gracious fans. You're too kind."

"We should use that idea as a prank!" James suddenly said excitedly. "We'll make the Slytherins' tongues grow long and wipe their faces like dogs. And we'll hex their hands so that they can't pick up their wands and reverse the spell!"

"I doubt they'll be able to reverse the spell anyway with their tongues the size of snakes," laughed a now clean-faces Sirius. "They wouldn't manage the incantation."

Remus considered this for a moment, frowning a little. '_That seems like a really mean trick to play, even on the Slytherins who aren't very nice to begin with. And not all of them are horrible people, walking around the corridors with their wands up their sleeves, ready to hex some unsuspecting passer-by. But if I ask James and Sirius not to go through with their idea, they might think I'm betraying them, that I'm supporting the Slytherins. What do I do? I'll keep quiet, that's what. They might not even carry out their prank… yet_.'

Returning to the present, the young werewolf realized that the other three had risen to their feet, excitedly discussing how to hex the entire Slytherin House successfully. James was gesturing wildly with both his hands, his face animated, while Sirius smiled with that lazy grin of his, crossing his arms across his chest and eyeing his messy-haired friend interestedly. The third boy was watching both his friends anxiously, with a nervous smile and wide eyes. Remus wondered if the boy was easily pleased and awed. He was slowly warming up to James and Sirius having been accepted into their "Marauder group." He seemed to regard James with an air of admiration and idolism, and Sirius was a mixture of wariness and excitement. '_I suppose that's why he looks both eager and frightened around them_,' Remus concluded in his head.

The smaller boy had begun to relax around Remus as well in the last couple weeks, and took to smiling tentatively at the werewolf instead of nervously avoiding his gaze as he often had done since their first encounter on the Hogwarts Express. Remus assumed he was just a shy fellow who, like Remus, was nervous about fitting in with others his age.

"Hey, Remus!" James turned to Remus suddenly, as if he just remembered the sandy-haired blonde's presence. "We could really use your excellent brains on this one, mate. Should we spike their morning pumpkin juices with a potion that will lengthen their tongues, or…?" He broke off, his arms swinging by sides, a look of enthusiastic expectancy on his young face, James and Peter on either side of him, eyeing Remus keenly.

Remus hesitated. "Er…Well, it's… You know how it is with the Slytherins- they might expect something like that so we-"

"How could they possibly expect that?!" demanded an unbelieving Sirius, whose face looked torn between exasperation and amusement. "It's a brilliant proposal, and I for one think we should do it. You agree, Petey? Oh, of course you agree? What am I saying? You always agree with James' ideas."

Peter flushed bright red at Sirius' statement and Remus felt an odd sense of bitterness on the plump boy's behalf. '_Why does Sirius have to be so unkind to him_?'

"So now the question is," continued Sirius, seemingly unaware of Peter's growing discomfort. "How do we get the potion in their drinks?"

Remus slid off his bed and put away his books, abandoning his attempt at doing homework. He had just reached the door when James rounded on him. "And where do you think you're going?"

Remus cringed and turned to face the boys in the room, ready to reply when Sirius answered for him in a suspiciously calm manner. "He's not interested in helping us prank the Slytherins."

Remus glanced at Sirius, who was now straight-faced and staring right at the werewolf, his arms crossed in what now Remus viewed as a threatening manner. He flinched, afraid he might have really upset the others, and addressed James- mostly because he seemed to be the only one of the three with the level-head and common sense. "I'm going to the library," he lied swiftly. "Need to do some research for the Potions homework due next week."

James stared blankly, and Sirius scoffed, "There's always something with you, Lupin. Always hurrying away like a coward because you're too afraid to do something fun. Hiding behind your textbooks or hanging about with Evans! You're no Gryffindor, Lupin. You're just some know-it-all who's afraid of his own shadow."

Remus felt his anger rise up inside him at Sirius' last words. Who was he to tell the werewolf he wasn't worthy of the House he'd been sorted into? How could he stand there and accuse Remus of being afraid when he had no idea of everything Remus had gone through in his life?

'_That's out of order_,' the werewolf imagined telling his confronter, as he held his hands clenched into fists, his jaw stiff. '_You have the audacity to point out someone's flaws to them when you know full well it isn't your place to judge. You stand there, in your pure-blood dragon-hide, leather boots and claim you understand someone you've only met a month back? You haven't a clue what I'm capable of, Black. Not a clue."_

The furious werewolf turned on his heel and exited the room, still conjuring up angry things he'd like to say to the aristocratic, silver-grey-eyed wizard he'd left glaring after him. 'How dare he?'

Remus walked out of the Common Room and down the first flight of stairs, still unsure of where he wanted to go when he ran into Sybil Trelawney, who beamed at him, her hands full of slimy, green frogs Remus suspected she'd gotten from the Potions Master. He smiled weakly at her.

"Are you going to the library?" the excited young Gryffindor witch chirruped, her hands desperately trying to prevent her slippery frogs from escaping her clutches, her eyes bulging with anticipation from behind her large glasses. "I'm heading that way too, after I've put away my amphibians. I thought maybe we could go over the Herbology homework together, I don't quite understand it, you see…"

"Sure," Remus amended, welcoming the distraction. After all, she was far better company than Sirius Black and his ridiculous mood swings. "I'll meet you there, Okay?"

Trelawney giggled happily and nodded. She hurried up the steps and Remus, suddenly more cheerful skipped down the steps to the school library, his mind significantly calmer.

'Who needs friends like Black, Potter and Pettigrew anyway? All they ever do is cause trouble and lie to get away. Then they do it all over again when they get away with it. I already have Sybil and Lily. They're nice and they're smart and don't feel the need to get in trouble to have fun. I don't need to gain approval from anyone else. Lily's right, I shouldn't be such a pushover. They have each other, why would they need-'

"Muttering to yourself, Lupin?"

Startled out of his reverie, Remus glanced around for the source of the unfriendly sneer with which he was growing increasingly familiar, and stiffened. He hadn't realized he was talking out loud.

"You've been spending so much time with your mad friend, Black, that you've become as insane as he is," said Snape nastily, eyeing Remus with a look of superior indifference, his hooked nose raised in the air. "I'm surprised you haven't already started laughing in that deranged manner of his!"

The werewolf bit his lip to avoid blurting out just what he thought of the sniveling berk with greasy hair. '_Deep breaths,_' he reminded himself, panicked at his own angry thoughts. '_Deeps breaths now…_' He turned his gaze from Snape and counted backwards from ten.

"-see why you need to visit the infirmary all the time now," Snape was saying in a falsely thoughtful tone. "Your mind is unstable. You're not normal, you need the medi-witch to fix you up all the time with healing potions and calming draughts. That's it, isn't it, Lupin?"

Trying hard to resist succumbing to the urge to whip out his wand and hex Snape three ways to Sunday, Remus bit down hard on his bottom lip, tasting the coppery tang of his blood in his mouth, and felt his fingernails digging into his palms painfully. Upon hearing a second voice cackle behind him, the young werewolf turned to see Peeves the Poltergeist floating several feet away, a malicious expression on his usually mischievous face. Remus groaned.

"Lupin's unstable," the poltergeist hooted happily, pointing a semi-transparent finger at Remus, his eyes bulging with growing excitement. "Lupin's crazy. Loony, loopy, Lupin!"

Eyes betraying him with angry tears about to shed, face growing hot, Remus wanted nothing more than to sink into the ground and disappear forever. He stood his ground however, staring at Snape with narrowed eyes, gritted teeth, refusing to give the other wizard the satisfaction of seeing him hurt.

The Slytherin stared back with eyes full of hatred, mouth pulled into a spiteful smirk. Remus could see that Snape was not finished with taunting him, and he continued staring, trying discreetly to force down the painful lump in his throat and blink away the tears threatening to fall. He blocked out Peeves' screechy cries of 'Loony, loopy Lupin,' and feigned indifference.

Raising his wand, Snape yelled "_Flipendo_!" his black eyes flashing with malice, and, caught off guard for the first time since facing the Slytherin in D.A.D.A classes, Remus was knocked off his feet, hurled through the air backwards, landing on his back rather painfully. Lying on the floor and pushing his lips together to avoid making a sound, the brave sandy-haired boy forced his mind to ignore the pain. Through his haze, he heard the harsh laughter of the poltergeist and taunting voice of his attacker, asking him where his friends were and why they hadn't come to his rescue yet. Remus got up slowly, avoiding the black orbs that were undoubtedly watching him mercilessly.

"You've got heart, Lupin," Snape spoke sounding somewhat impressed. "Even in our D.A.D.A classes, you seem to never want to give up, so you're either stupid or fearless. My guess is the former." The Slytherin laughed scornfully.

"You'd be surprised at what you don't know," the Gryffindor heard himself say, earning a look of incredulous disbelief. "Bravery comes in all forms."

And then he did something his father taught him long ago, as a child trying to be strong against the pain of post-transformations. His dad had gripped the five year-old boy's shivering shoulders and forced him to make eye-contact, repeating over and over again, "The only way to get rid of your fears is to confront them," with a strong voice. Remus never understood what it meant to face his fears, but had tried to clear his mind of any pain and forced his body to stop shaking.

Blinking back memories, eleven-year-old Remus reached for his wand and emptied his mind of all emotion, focusing on the spell he wanted to cast. All at once, he felt a jolt of electricity shoot through his wand-arm, down to his hand, fingers, and released the built-up energy through his wand with a blast of red light. It seemed he was successful at surprising Snape because the spell collided with the raven-haired Slytherin, sending him flying through the air, much like the very first morning of term during breakfast. Snape, cursing and spluttering, got to his feet almost immediately and aimed his wand at the werewolf. Reacting quickly, Remus disarmed Snape and hit him with a Stunning spell, giving the dark-haired wizard no time to counter his spell. Too stunned at his own daring and nerve, Remus froze in fear, staring at the motionless wizard before him, his grass-green eyes widening as realization hit him. He'd reacted instinctively, just as a wizard in a real duel would have, and it alarmed him to think that he had done all by himself without prior training. Even during practice in D.A.D.A during which Remus was joined up with the very Slytherin class—mate magically solidified in front of the sandy-blonde, Remus would sometimes hesitate or think too much about the invocation in mind.

It dawned on him that Snape would unfreeze soon, and he, Remus, would have to endure an angry Slytherin. He was not looking forward to that. Thinking quickly, he decided to leave the wizard there and run, hoping he could make it Gryffindor Tower before the hex wore off.

He ran past a confused Trelawney, muttering hasty apologies. He hadn't looked too closely but he could swear he saw a look of hurt pass across her features as well as he zoomed by. Remus hated himself; he was a coward, a coward who fled from a promise to a friend because he was afraid of his opponent whom he had beaten. He was pathetic.

Completely forgetting his rage at Sirius, Remus burst into his dormitory and closed the door behind him, sliding down against it as he tried to catch his breath.

"What, couldn't find your girlfriend, Lupin?"

Ignoring Sirius' snarky tone, Remus looked at him and shook his head. "Snape attacked me."

He wasn't sure what made him say it, he supposed it was because he knew James and Sirius would love an excuse to jump the greasy-haired Slytherin, but he never expected James to jump up from the bed he was sitting on, eyes flashing with fury and bellow, "THAT TWAT HURT YOU?!"

Slightly taken back, the werewolf nodded and watched as James walked dream-like from his four-poster over to the sandy-haired boy still on the floor. Gulping, Remus bravely stared up at James and waited. He wondered what could be going on underneath the messy hair, and hoped James wasn't about to blame Remus for what Snape attempted. "And what did he do exactly?" James asked in a dangerously low voice, his lips quivering as he spoke.

Feeling even more unnerved with his roommate's abrupt change in demeanor, Remus shook his head slowly and attempted to rise from the floor but James put a strong hand on his right shoulder and pushed him back down. Baring his teeth like an angry dog, the hazel-eyed wizard called Sirius over and Remus shivered. He could feel his face pale and his hands shake. "No, please…"

"What did he **_do_** to you, Remus?" James repeated, as Sirius stood with his hands crossed and lips pursed, eyeing the werewolf critically.

"He-I didn't mean to-to stun him. I-I-He hit me with a spell and-"

"What spell?" James demanded.

"F-flipendo, I think."

James and Sirius exchanged looks and Remus whimpered. "Please, I…"

"We're going to avenge you, Remus, don't worry," said the bespectacled boy in a kind voice. "Snivellus will regret ever attacking one of the Marauders. And YOU!" he rounded on Sirius who flinched a little at James' tone. "Apologise this instant to Remus!"

Sirius scoffed, backing away from them. "Apologise to a sodding half-blood! You must be joking!"

"No, I must be serious!"

Sirius snorted at the words. "That would be me, actually. Why should I-?"

James grabbed hold of the pure-blood's front and fisted it, pulling him close so that they were inches apart. "Because Remus is our friend," he growled menacingly. "And because here, in the Marauder group, we're all equal. Quite contrary to your family's beliefs, half-bloods are just as worthy of apologies as any pure-blood. Now get to it, Black!" He pushed the other wizard away from him and Sirius stumbled and almost lost his footing. He glared once at James then addressed Remus- or, more accurately, Remus' shoes.

"I was wrong to-to say those things to you, Lupin. It won't happen again."

Remus stared, his heart hammering in his chest, his mind racing. Finally he nodded. "It's OK-"

"No, it isn't!" James objected, still glaring darkly at the raven-haired wizard. "He's not done yet, Remus. That's not an apology." He folded his arms.

"You could give Evans lessons," Sirius bit out bitterly. "What more do you want- a bouquet of flowers and a bloody poem?"

There was a snigger from behind.

"Shut it, Pettigrew!"

"Don't you start on Peter!"

Sirius was now clenching his fists so hard his knuckles had turned white. Remus could practically feel the radiated magic Sirius was emitting in his anger. He paled.

"S-Sirius," the young werewolf stuttered in a voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry too. I-er-"

"-Get up, Remus."

Cut off mid-sentence, the werewolf turned to hazel eyes and frowned, sure he had misheard. "S-Sorry?"

"Get up off the floor so Sirius can apologise properly," James said, still shooting dirty looks at Sirius.

Taken back, Remus made to stand, but Sirius growled. "WHY SHOULD I DO WHAT YOU TELL ME TO, POTTER? I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!" He reached for the door handle and Remus, fearful of getting hit by the door, leapt out of the way.

The door slammed behind the fuming eleven-year-old, and all was quiet for several seconds, until a curious singing interrupted the stunned silence.

"Oh, shit, Eliot!"

Remus watched as the shortest boy scrambled off his bed to his bedside where his odd little owl sat in its cage. Only, on closer inspection and judging by the musical sounds coming from the strange bird, Remus got the feeling it wasn't an ordinary post owl.

"Is that a fwooper, Peter?" James asked, his voice shaking a little. Remus couldn't take his eyes off the bird now that it had started singing. The music was piercing his ears- it was extremely high but had a melodious tune, and Remus felt his lips tug up in a small smile. "Don't you know how dangerous those birds are?"

Peter was now struggling to remember something, his face screwed up in deep concentration. "The-the spell… Can't remember the spell..."

Remus closed his eyes and listened to the song. Some part of his mind that was still awake alerted him to James tugging his arm as if warning him of something. He then felt a soft brush against his left shoulder, making him sway slightly. Remus giggled and sighed happily as the soothing music calmed his nerves. The wolf inside reared its head interestedly, and purred like a kitten. Barely paying attention to anything but the melody to which he was now gently rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, the sandy-blonde started humming along to the musical notes. Suddenly-

"-RID OF THIS BLOODY BIRD RIGHT NOW! IT COULD HAVE DRIVEN US CRAZY, YOU GIT!"

Sky-blue eyes shot open to James' horrified shriek, and near Peter's bedside Remus saw a cowering Peter backing away fearfully from a deranged-looking James who had his wand out, red and purple sparks emitting from the tip. The bird _('James called it a fwooper_?') was still opening and closing its beak from within its cage ,although no sound emanated from it, and Remus, now trying to clear his head from the fog still floating about, gazed wonderingly at the creature, his brow furrowed in thought.

'A fwooper,' he mused to himself. 'Doesn't look dangerous but obviously James thinks it is.' He glanced back at James and Peter, the former still backing up against in the wall almost in tears and the latter yelling insults. Quite abruptly, the messy-haired wizard grabbed the fwooper's cage and stalked to the door, all the while muttering under his breath.

He left a still dazed Remus behind with a tearful Peter, his door slamming rivaling Sirius'.

"Where did he go?" Remus asked Peter, his brain slowly clearing of mist.

"He's t-taking Eliot to Professor McGonagall," the little wizard sobbed, wiping his sweaty face on his sleeves. "She-she's going to send him home, I know she will. It's not f-fair!"

Utterly bemused but also rather sympathetic for the poor boy, Remus walked over to Peter and carefully slid his arm over Peter's shoulder, rubbing his arm soothingly.

"I just forgot to reapply the silencing charm on him once! Now Mum's going to murder me."

Opening his mouth to say something kind and considerate, the werewolf thought better of it and shut it again. He'd had enough surprises for one day, and he was starting to see a pattern in the day's events. However, that didn't prevent Fate from surprising Remus one more time that day when a knock sounded at the door. Remus walked over to answer it and was greeted by Frank Longbottom.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to see you," he addressed Remus immediately. He turned to leave but Remus stopped him.

"Did he look angry?" he questioned fearfully. His first thought was that Snape had complained about him and the other teachers have heard, demanding the young werewolf's instantaneous expulsion from Hogwarts. He didn't relax in the slightest when Frank looked at him smiling and shaking his head a little.

"No, don't think so. He seemed… like he always is." The brown-eyed fellow Gryffindor turned again and disappeared down the stairs.

Remus stared after him absolutely puzzled.

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**Sorry, it's really short. I had planned on making it longer but... there you go! Well, I must say I've gotten a little worried after receiving only one review from you lot. Where are my devoted fans and followers? *sobs like Peter* I need reviews. Reviews are my oxygen, my H2O, my blood... OK, well you get my point. Just drop a "good work" or "Hi" to let me know you're still reading my fic. Love ya xx :) **


	6. Chapter 6: What Friends Are for

_**A/N**_: Salutations, my amazing readers and followers! There's really no excuse for me posting this chapter later than you expected me to, except that I've had this really sinister plot for a Remus/Sirius moment and it was just begging to be written out. And so I did, in the form of 'Eavesdropping.' Go check it out if you haven't. For those of you who have; Aye you naughty little porn-lovers tut-tut. Hehe just kidding. Hope you enjoyed my little gift for being so patient with me. And now, here you are: the latest chapter of my baby! New character(s) make(s) (an) appearance and some good stuff. I think this may be the longest chapter I've written so far hehe…

_**Warnings**_: Umm my Dumbledore may be kind of OOC. Let me know if I haven't quite captured the true bearded, gay wizard's characteristics, yeah? Thanks!

_**Disclaimer**_**: **Still not the famous Queen Rowling. Still not pretending I own her characters…

**STARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOFCHAPTERSTARTOFCHAPTER**

**Chapter 6: What Friends Are for**

'What could Professor Dumbledore possibly want from me?'

The werewolf was standing, stock-still with his hand on the door handle, deliberating. Finally, figuring he might as well get it over with, Remus let go of the silver handle and chancing a glance at Peter, waving a little, he walked down to the Common Room. His pulse quickened with each step, and he tried to swallow but found a lump there. '_What the heck_?'

He passed a couple of seventh-year girls who looked to be consoling Sirius, but Remus ignored them and walked on. He was going to be expelled anyway, why should he worry about his roommate?

Laughing bitterly, the sandy-blonde left the Common Room without a backward glance at anyone, silently saying his farewells to the House of which he'd grown fond. He was glad he hadn't gotten attached to it, and mentally willed himself to forget that he ever was a Gryffindor. He'd miss Lily, though. She was a really good friend- one who understood and even attempted to help the poor werewolf with the limited resources she had. He sort of wished she could have not been so fond of Remus; now he was going to leave her and he feared for her happiness.

'_What's wrong with you_?' he reprimanded himself angrily. '_Lily will find other friends. Don't flatter yourself thinking she'd be sad to see you go. Once you leave, she could get acquainted with more confident people, more fun and less violent with her other friends. You attacked her friend, Lupin, and you expect her to forgive you? Ha! Snape will probably tell her that you mercilessly disarmed him and left him stupefied… What if the spell never wore off, eh? You heartless sod. You got lucky with Lily and even Sybil. They were too nice to a violent monster like you. It's good that you're leaving_.'

Hardly noticing where he was going, Remus walked right into a suit of armor, sending it clanging and crashing to the ground in the noisiest racket the werewolf's ears ever heard. He winced stumbling backwards in bewilderment and checked the empty-looking corridor for any night-time wanderers. Curfew wasn't for another three hours, bur Remus couldn't shake the feeling that the caretaker, Filtch, would find something wrong with accidentally knocking down immobile statues. Taking out his wand, Remus quickly righted the armor and walked on, keeping an eye out for the nasty-tempered care-taker or his trouble-seeking cat.

Suddenly, Remus stopped and groaned. He'd just realized that he had no idea where the headmaster's office was. Just as that thought settled itself in his mind, Remus heard footsteps rapidly approaching and he tensed. He made to run but was called back by a familiar voice. "Lupin, Lupin, wait!"

Turning back a tad nervously, he came face-to-face with Head Boy, and his fellow Gryffindor, Arthur Weasley. They had never spoken directly before, but Remus had seen a few younger Gryffindors go up to him for help and heard the seventh-year wizard's name being called by the Head Girl, Molly Prewett. As he waited for the ginger to catch up to him, Remus idly wondered how Arthur knew _his_ name. His question was answered almost instantly when Arthur pulled up, short of breath, smiling brightly.

"Frank told me you're headed to Professor Dumbledore's office," he gasped out excitedly. "I figured you might need me to show you the way, I wanted to see him too about something."

"Oh," Remus smiled politely. "Er-thanks, Arthur. Yes, I only just realized I don't know where it is." He shrugged. "My mind was somewhere else."

Surprising Remus with a good natured chuckle, the ginger wizard shook his head, as they walked together along the corridor. "Yes, I did that myself in my first year. Did it with all my classes, luckily there were other students taking the same classes and I could just follow them. Any chance you could let me speak to the headmaster first though, Remus? It will only be a minute, and then I'll give you all the time you need."

"Yes, of course no problem," Remus nodded, knowing the older boy was looking at him.

"Thanks," Arthur said sounding relieved. "It's just that it's my last year, see? And I keep on forgetting to go see Professor Dumbledore about this… thing. It would be good to get it over with now while I can, you know? Although, it's always possible to come back after graduation and ask him… I don't know if I'd want to come back in the summer though, after I'd said my good-byes. And Molly and I would be moving in together, of course. This way, Remus."

Remus followed obediently, quickening his pace a little to keep up with the longer-legged student who continued on talking as if Remus had invited him to share his life story. All of a sudden, Arthur whipped around to face the smaller boy, if just realizing to whom he was talking, and gasped. "Wait, you're a half-blood. That means you must know all about Muggles!"- He reached a hand into his pocket and retrieved a small, fist-sized white box and held it up for the other boy to see-"I found it on my last trip to Hogsmeade lying on the floor of the Owl Post. Think some Muggle must have dropped it… Could you tell me what it is?"

"It's a plug," Remus answered, half amused at the teen's fervent interest in Muggle objects, and wondering how anyone could drop something as heavy as an electric plug and not notice. He vaguely wondered if Arthur had something to do with the "dropped object." "It's used for connecting electrical devices to electricity. Every Muggle home has one."

Arthur's eyes widened when Remus said the word 'electricity.' He gazed at the plug in wonder, and as Remus watched, his eyes started sparkling with excitement. "A plug, you say? Connecting ekletricty? That's brilliant, that is! How does that work?"

Remus resisted the urge to giggle at Arthur's pronunciation and said with a straight face, "I'm not entirely sure. See, they teach these things in Muggle schools but not before you're thirteen at least. I only know that they act as a transmitter of some sort. Because the wall cannot connect the electricity- it blocks it somehow- the Muggles make a hole in the wall and a plug is fitted into the hole like a window."

"How do the walls get electricity?"

"Er-well, there are wires in the walls. They connect to-"

"-Wires?"

"Sort of like ropes but they're hollow inside so as to carry electricity. I'm not sure how electricity is made, though. It's quite complicated."

"What does electricity look like?"

The young werewolf looked up into the eager face of the red-head and beamed. He had a feeling he would meet other young wizards who got as excited about Muggle invention as the seventeen-year-old walking with Remus. It felt wonderful sharing what he knew with someone else, it was like writing poetry, only this time someone was actually on the receiving end of his conveyance. "Like wand sparks, I suppose. There's a form of electricity- I can show you one day. You can actually see it in the dark. It's quite fascinating, really."

Arthur kept on asking questions about the plug- "How is it made" "Where can I find one?" "Does it come in other shapes and colours?" and Remus was only too happy to answer them. He was so caught up in sharing his knowledge on Muggle artifacts that he was significantly startled when Arthur suddenly came to a stop in front of a gargoyle statue that looked down upon them with distrusting eyes and said "Cockroach Clusters."

The statue nodded and leapt aside, effectively letting Remus and Arthur pass up to Dumbledore's office door. Arthur knocked thrice, smiling cheerfully at the younger boy, who nodded politely.

"Come in," came the calm voice of Professor Dumbledore through the large door, which opened itself almost immediately upon the headmaster's accent.

"Won't take a minute," Arthur reminded the young werewolf, ducking under the door and closing it behind him carefully. Remus waited.

One of the reasons Remus hated having nothing to do was because of his wandering mind. He couldn't keep it in control when he wasn't busy with something that required mental effort. Waiting outside the headmaster's office, twiddling his thumbs and pacing in small circles certainly did not fall under the category of 'requiring mental effort.' Remus sighed.

Thoughts of getting expelled from Hogwarts bombarded his mind again and he tried to fight them off, despite having nothing to distract him from it. '_What if Professor Dumbledore believes Snape's story?_ _Oh, I am in so much trouble! Professor Dumbledore will have no choice but to kick me out. Who would take a werewolf's word? Might as well go and pack my trunk now_…'

Barely taking any notice of the little voice inside (which sounded rather like his mum's) telling him to calm down and stop worrying, Remus kept on dwelling on the negative, wringing him hands and tugging on his hair, until the door opened to reveal a beaming Arthur who paused upon seeing the younger boy's expression and frowned. "Are you alright, Remus?"

Nodding his head jerkily, the sandy-haired boy gulped and avoided eye contact as the older boy stood for a second too long and finally gestured towards the office. "You can go in, Dumbledore's waiting for you."

Nodding again and feeling like his lungs might collapse with over-exertion, Remus walked slowly into the office.

"Remus, dear boy, come in!"

Despite his current state of near-hysteria, Remus noticed the beauty of the office and looked around. He was just beginning to take in the portraits hanging on the walls when he heard a soft, "Come sit, dear boy," and his head whipped to a smiling Albus Dumbledore at his desk.

This shocked Remus greatly, for his wasn't expecting a smiling face at all. Quite the contrary; he had been imagining a disappointed, upset headmaster, voice full of disgust and fury as he told the young werewolf he was no longer welcome at this school, and that he was to leave at once. He gulped. "S-sorry, sir?"

The older wizard lifted his right hand, still smiling, eyes twinkling and gestured towards a chair adjacent the desk he was seated at. "Please."

Utterly bewildered at the man who sat so calmly before him, Remus kept his eyes trained on him as he slowly neared the seat and sat down.

"Have a crumpet, won't you?"

"Er…" Mind reeling with the memory of having the very same old man sitting in front of him in his own house, Remus reached for a crumpet in the transparent bowl on the headmaster's desk. He couldn't help himself any longer. "Am I in trouble, Sir?"

"Trouble?" the headmaster shook his head slightly, and gazed intently at Remus. "Not that I'm aware of, dear boy. Unless… you've done something to warrant you getting into trouble? A prank, perhaps?"

It was not the fact that the bearded wizard knew of Remus' past time adventures with James, Sirius and Peter that amazed Remus; it was the way the older man said it- smiling with a hint of mirth behind his half-moon specs. Deciding to play innocent, Remus frowned. He knew instantly that we wouldn't get away with it, however.

"I haven't played any pranks recently, sir," the young werewolf said softly, hoping Dumbledore would skirt over the word "recently."

The older man was still smiling that obnoxious knowing smile that Remus was beginning to hate. '_Why wouldn't he say something_?'

Dumbledore chuckled. "Do your parents know you haven't played any pranks _**recently**_, Remus?"

So he had caught the meaning Remus had been hoping wouldn't be caught. Remus flushed. "Well-what-what I mean to say is I don't-don't know why I'm here exactly, Professor."

"Well, we all have our purpose in life, don't we?"

Remus stared, quite puzzled and growing increasingly annoyed with Dumbledore's calm demeanor. "Er, yes?" He wasn't sure what to say.

"You'll come to realize just how important you are to those who care about you, someday. And I do hope that by then, you would have appreciated your own existence."

Nodding, Remus finally relaxed a little and took a bit out of his crumpet, coughing slightly.

"I gather you've had quite an interesting term so far? Tell me, have you managed to charm your Potions professor with your extraordinary magical abilities at last like you have your other teachers, or are you still struggling with Professor Slughorn's complex brewing instructions?"

Only somewhat surprised at his headmaster's knowledge on his academic achievements in the classroom, Remus shared his concerns with the subject he'd been barely passing so far.

"But I'm getting loads of help from Lily Evans, my classmate, Sir," the young wizard assured Dumbledore. "She's quite gifted at potion-making herself, and I find her teaching methods rather easier to follow than a textbook."

Dumbledore nodded, still smiling. "That is very generous of her. And how do you find her company, Remus? I trust you've grown quite accustomed to having another young student's companionship for longer than you have been used to? Are you comfortable here at Hogwarts?"

Almost at once, Remus' thoughts drifted to James and Sirius. '_They're very hard to read sometimes but that does not make them bad people. And Sirius has been brought up in a very strict environment, I'm sure. It's not his fault he values some things more than others_.' He smiled to himself. '_I'm sure James and I can change that. And Peter's fine, just a little shy- life here isn't bad_.' "I'm getting used to it, Sir. It's alright. Just… different."

"Understandable. And what of your transformations? You have your next one coming up in a week, am I right?"

"Yes, Sir. It went well given the-um-circumstances… Only a few scratches here and there and a couple of bite marks..."

Dumbledore nodded, looking a touch more concerned. "That is also to be expected. It is a shame we cannot offer you more help, my dear boy. I am sure Poppy is doing her best to take care of your injuries, but I deeply regret being unable to offer you further comfort. Your parents are still searching for a potential antidote for lycanthropy?"

Remus was fidgeting now- he wasn't very comfortable discussing his condition, even with the kind old man who had allowed him to enter his school. Remus hated being a werewolf, and talking about it to anyone made him feel alienated and alone. "Yes. Sir," he said quietly.

"You mustn't be ashamed of what you are, Remus," Dumbledore said kindly, his twinkling blue eyes piercing Remus' as they held each other's gaze. "It will only make you fear your condition even greater, and fear is the one thing from which we cannot escape. It lives within us."

Not quite understanding the bearded wizard, the young sandy-blonde frowned. "How can I not be ashamed of being a monster, Sir? Werewolves are vicious and deadly- it's nothing to be proud of."

"No, Remus." The headmaster's voice was surprising stern this time, and Remus felt himself blush slightly, lowering his head, ashamed of upsetting the kind aging man before him. "You are not a monster. A monster is a creature with vicious intentions, with the craving for evil and corruption. A monster purposefully looks to hurt and destroy. You do not. Do not mistake yourself for that wicked word, Remus."

Blinking back tears for the third time that day, Remus nodded again, still unconvinced of the headmaster's argument. "Okay."

"I want your word, Remus, that I will not hear that word from you ever again."

"I promise," the eleven-year-old boy croaked, blinking faster to halt the tears in his eyes. "Can I go now, sir?"

Remus heard shuffling and suddenly the headmaster was standing next to the young boy's chair. The sandy-blonde felt a cool hand on his shoulder and looked up into blue so dazzling he might have been looking at the stars. "Not quite yet, Remus. I wish to speak to you concerning one more matter, after which you may make your way to dinner."

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"Herbology is useless!"

"Why do you say that, Sybil?"

Remus and Sybil Trelawney were both in a quite spot in the library, Herbology textbooks and reference books spread out before them on the table. Remus had apologized about running off on the promised meeting in the library the day before, and it was now Sunday afternoon, the rain hitting the Hogwarts windows hard, effectively imprisoning all the students in the castle.

Despite having heard that Severus Snape was well and uninjured from the effects of the 'stupefy' spell Remus had cast on him the previous evening, the young Gryffindor resolved to always having a companion whenever he walked the halls. He preferred having someone restraining him from potentially attacking another student than to start an unsupervised duel in the corridors. Even James' promise to "get that greasy git back and make him pay" did not comfort Remus in the slightest. He shuddered to think what Snape would do to James as a result of the Slytherin's anger towards Remus.

"Why do we need to know about plants anyway?" the female Gryffindor said in a whiny voice. "If we need to heal somebody, we could always just cast healing charms. Now, Divination- that is a fascinating subject! Seeing the future and palm reading… It's a lot more interesting than going through boring herbs."

Scratching his head absentmindedly, the werewolf pulled the witch's textbook closer and yawned, checking the time on his watch. "Are you really a Seer, Sybil?"

"Well, my grandmother was one and my mum thinks I could be one. I'm sure my dad would too, only I wouldn't know because he's not around anymore. He died of the Grim when I was two."

Remus frowned, still scanning the textbook in front of him. "Died of the what?"

"Oh the Grim is an omen of death. You die if you see the Grim. My auntie died of it too, but I wasn't even born when she was alive so I don't remember her at all."

"Oh." Remus didn't want to upset Sybil by telling her that the Grim wasn't really an omen of death, and that her dad and auntie probably just got too frightened to eat or something. He just smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure they were great people, your dad and auntie."

"There you are, Remus. Let's go quick before I'm spotted in here."

Remus frowned and swiveled around in his chair to come face-to-face with a disheveled looking James Potter hurrying up to him. His hair was even messier than usual, his robe collar sticking out at an odd angle and his eyes round as saucers. "James? What's going on?"

"Sirius is having a party in the Common Room; we've been looking all over for you! Let's go."

"Party-?"

"It's his birthday, you utter half-wit," James exclaimed, now completely exasperated. He glanced once at the Sybil, briefly smiling her way, then started tugging on Remus' shirt. "Let's go! All the butterbeer will be gone by now!"

Pulling his arm away from James' reach, Remus stared in confusion at his roommate- '_No, __**friend**_,' the small voice inside the werewolf insisted- wondering why he was even invited. "And Sirius wants me there?" he asked uncertainly.

James rolled his eyes. "Of course he does, you idiot! He really was sorry about yesterday; he's just… clueless at apologizing."

Sighing apprehensively, the sandy-haired boy shrugged. "I don't know, James. He might start yelling at me or something if he sees me there. I probably shouldn't."

"Don't be stupid, Remus. Sirius loves attention and he most likely won't even notice you there. Even if he does, he wouldn't say anything with me there!"

Remus snorted. "And what will you do? Lecture him to death? James, I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate my presence, just-just go back before he realizes you're gone."

"I'm not leaving until you get yourself off that chair and come to the party," James said in a furious whisper. "I don't care if you have to bring your girlfriend, just don't sit here studying on a Sunday night, for Merlin's sake!"

Flushing slightly at James' jab about Sybil being his girlfriend, Remus scratched the back of his neck and groaned again. "I just don't do parties, James."

"What do you mean you don't do parties? It's just a gathering of friends, that's all."

The werewolf shook his head and looked James in the eye. "Please, James. I'm not good at socializing and I have to help Sybil with her Herbology homework. I can't."

Looking at him in slight confusion for longer than what Remus would've cared to admit comfortable, the messy-haired boy finally turned and addressed the girl at the table for the first time, smiling politely. "Want to come to the party, Trelawney? I could lend you my time later to help with the essay if you manage to bring this idiot here-"he jerked his head towards Remus-"up to the Common Room."

Remus shook his head imploringly at the now glowing witch, willing her to decline. His efforts went unnoticed as Sybil squealed excitedly and nodded, her bushy brown hair bouncing behind her. Remus groaned in dismay, digging the heels of his palms into his closed eyes.

"Excellent," Remus heard James' pleased voice say. "Bring him up within half an hour and I'll schedule a slot in for tomorrow after lunch. Oh, and don't fall for his pleading blue eyes- they'd melt a murderer's heart." There was brief tapping on Remus' shoulder and James took his leave.

Refusing to look up lest he start glaring at one of his only friends, Remus stayed seated in the chair with his hand up to his face, eyes closed. He heard papers shuffling and guessed Sybil might be putting away her things. "Sybil, please don't do this."

There was a sigh and more scuffling of papers and books. "No one likes me except for you, Remus," Sybil said in a soft, sad voice, devoid of the usual excitement and mistiness "This party could be a chance to make friends."

"You won't find friends at that party, Sybil," Remus countered, finally looking up and watching the witch open her bag and neatly place her books inside. "Trust me; there'll only be lunatics who want to make noise and play stupid games."

Sybil gazed at him with big, sad eyes. "I never played games with anyone before, let alone stupid ones. I want to have some fun, Remus. Let's just go and check it out, yeah?"

The werewolf bit his lip. '_She wants to make friends. Who are you to stop her? Just go to this party- sit and read a book or something- and everything will be alright.' _He shook his head sharply. '_Parties are for uncivilized people, hooligans. Where people act like they don't have responsibilities_.' He sighed. 'Okay, let's go."

The squeak of excitement from the overenthusiastic witch made Remus plug both ears in distress.

Ten minutes later found the young eleven-year-old werewolf sitting awkwardly on the couch in front of the fireplace, between two drunken Forth Years, who were trying to persuade Remus to try on their socks. Wincing at the uncomfortable position he was in, Remus shifted and made to get up when he heard a loud laughing voice calling out his name. "REMUS! YOU SLY DOG!"

He closed his eyes and breathed out slowly, keeping his cool. "James," he said in a way of greeting.

"You made it! Here, have a butterbeer."

Remus felt a glass being thrust into his right hand and he opened his eyes. He nodded his thanks to James and took a sip. "Where's Sirius?"

James laughed in response. "Probably playing another round of 'Spin the Bottle.' Loves that game- oh, there he is! Man of the hour, what's the haps, mate?"

Sirius appeared from the crowd, eyes bloodshot, hair ruffled and smelling strongly of alcohol. He was wearing the largest smile Remus had ever seen him wear, and that was saying something. Trying not to gag from the strong stench, Remus grinned up at Sirius. "Happy birthday, Sirius. Twelve today, huh? People in your family get drunk at twelve years old, then?"

Letting out his famous bark-like laugh, Sirius nodded and linked his arm around James, swaying slightly where he stood. "Uh-huh. Mum g-gave me Firewhiskey as a kid. Best thing ever!" He giggled and slumped onto his friend's shoulder, James shaking his head and laughing.

"Isn't this great, Remus? Hey, want to play Exploding Snap?"

"No thanks, James. I'm going to go talk to Lily over there. See you later, yeah?"

Leaving a slightly disappointed James behind, Remus dodged the arm that came up above his head and got off the couch. He found Lily sitting quietly on an armchair in the corner, glaring at anyone laughing too loudly or daring to approach her in a drunken state. "Hi, Lily."

She looked up and let out a relieved breath. "Remus! Oh, thank goodness… Where have you been? I haven't seen in you a while. Here-come sit down." She aimed her wand at an empty chair nearby and muttered 'accio,' sending the chair crashing to the ground and startling a few Gryffindors who were standing beside it talking amongst each other. "Sorry, still getting the hang of that spell."

Remus withdrew his wand and confidently made the chair slide across the floor towards them. He sat down, checking for any signs of spilled drinks first. "Enjoying yourself?"

Lily shot him a glare and pursed her lips. "What kind of question is that? I need to study for tomorrow's quiz and I can't get a second of silence in here. And a party-I mean, really? He's only twelve, for goodness sake! Why would he want to throw a party with alcohol and-and… whatever?"

Remus shrugged. "Can't study in your room?"

"No, the lights are out because Alice is trying to sleep. I didn't want to bother her and until she fell asleep, and anyway, I study best in this corner here. Why is there a party?" She crossed her arms angrily and took to staring at the group of girls surrounding Sirius. "Where are the Prefects and Head Boy and Girl? This is getting ridiculous."

"We could go upstairs to my dorm if you want," Remus said, surprising himself with the suggestion. "I think Peter may be still up, he won't mind."

Lily shook her head. "I have no doubt you're as tidy as they come, Remus. But I'd rather not find out, yet, how disgustingly dirty your roommates are, thanks. Its fine, I'll go upstairs to my room in a few minutes once Alice is asleep."

"Wotcher, you must be Remus!"

Looking up into familiar shiny storm-grey eyes, Remus thought he was looking into Sirius' eyes, until he realized it had been a girl's voice that said his name, and his vision focused on her face. She was quite pretty; long black hair pooling down to her waist, soft grey eyes so much like Sirius' and elegant black robes with the Slytherin crescent on it- wait Slytherin?!

"Er-hello," Remus greeted somewhat hesitantly, nodding respectfully. "Yes, I'm Remus."

Before the Slytherin girl could answer, Lily sat up straighter in her chair and spoke up. "You're a Slytherin," she stated helpfully. "How did you get in here?"

The dark-haired witch beamed brightly and extended her hand. "Sirius let me in. I'm his cousin, Andromeda."

Remus took her hand in his and shook it, frowning a little. "Sirius' cousin?"

"And why haven't the Prefects showed you the way out yet?" Lily asked, sounding furious.

Andromeda laughed pleasantly, turning her extended hand to Lily. "Sirius paid me to give all the Prefects and Head Boy and Girl Sleeping Draughts. Cool, yeah?"

Remus, having taken another sip of butterbeer, snorted a mouthful of his drink up his nose and started coughing, tears streaming down his eyes. Dimly, through his coughing fit, he heard Lily's outraged voice say, "NO, IT IS NOT COOL! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

Still trying to clear his blocked wind-pipe, the coughing werewolf blindly put his drink down and ran off from the heated scene. He almost got to the stairs leading up to the boys' dormitory when he collided with someone and landed painfully on his bum.

"Ouch… my-ouch-" he cried in between coughing fits. "Akh-ugh!"

"Here, let me help you!"

Sticking his right hand out and allowing to be pulled to his feet, Remus grabbed at his throat and hacked out his last cough. "Th-thanks," he said trying to hide his embarrassment behind his sleeve.

"You're welcome. You're not pissed too, are you?"

Finally looking into his rescuer's face and realizing it was another Fourth Year, he shook his head. "No, no I'm not. I don't drink Firewhiskey."

The ginger Fourth Year nodded and gestured towards Remus' robes. "Got butterbeer then down your front."

Remus groaned and pushed his way through to the rest of the way to the stairs and ran up to the dorm, shutting the door behind him.

"Party's over?"

Remus looked up to see Peter sitting up on his four-poster, petting his pet puffskein, Dinx.

"Unfortunately, no." Remus walked over to his bed and, without bothering to change out of his clothes, pulled the hangings closed and buried himself underneath his blankets.

After what felt like a few minutes, he woke to the sound of yelling and rubbed his eyes blearily.

"-AND SHE SNOGGED ME, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT, JAMESIE! SHE SNOGGED-"

"-SHUT IT, SIRIUS, WE HEARD YOU THE FIRST THREE HUNDRED TIMES!"

"HA-HA, YOU'RE JEALOUS, JAMES! YOU'RE JEALOUS-"

"I SAID SHUT IT, YOU BLOODY BUFFOON! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!"

Smacking himself on the face with his pillow, the tired werewolf groaned and kicked at his bed covers. The Full was less than a week away and he was in no mood to be dealing with sleep interruptions. "Stop talking," he muttered tiredly, voiced muffled by his pillow. "Please, stop."

The yelling continued and Remus, giving up on trying to get any more rest, sat up in bed and rubbed his itchy eyes, yawning. He stood up and pulled back his hangings but stopped dead at the sight that greeted him. Sirius Black was lying shirtless on the floor, covered in what looked like cat vomit. On closer inspection, Remus could just make out the scattered bits of food littering the boy's chest and school trousers. The smell coming off of him made Remus' head spin and his stomach turn unpleasantly. The werewolf made to walk past him to the door when he felt a small twinge of sympathy for his aristocratic dorm mate. He eyed Sirius (who was still laughing in a frighteningly-mad sort of way and having a half-hearted shouted conversation with a mostly-sleeping James) wearily for a moment before deciding on helping him. '_Might as well_,' he told himself tiredly. '_He'll be out cold in a bit anyway_.'

He walked over to Sirius and spelled the boy clean, holding his breath to avoid gagging at the stench. "C'mon," he said linking his arm around Sirius' midriff and hoisting the pissed twelve-year-old up on his feet. "Bathroom."

Sirius started giggling at once and lolled his head so that it rested on Remus' shoulder. "Remy's here! Remy's helpin' me go to the bath'oom."

Ignoring the other boy's cries of "SHUT IT, BLACK!" Remus half dragged, half walked his slurring roommate to the loo and waited as Sirius drunkenly stumbled to the sink and washed his face and brushed his teeth. The taller boy magically summoned Sirius' night shirt and helped him out of his smelly trousers, all the while nodding as the Pureblood slurred out things like "You're pretty," and "Your eyes are like the sea." Finally, knowing Sirius would be super grumpy in the morning if his hair looked like the bird's nest it did right now, Remus brushed it out for him and tried his best to style it the way Sober Sirius would have.

"You're like my best friend, Remus," Sirius breathed out sleepily, his eyes drooping and his head following the brush pulling at his hair. "You know that?"

Remus chuckled, feeling somewhat mournful that Sirius wouldn't remember anything in the morning. "Thanks, you're like my best friend too, Sirius."

After helping the half-asleep twelve-year-old to his bed and deciding he was going to try to sleep again, Remus changed out of his school robes and, briefly wondering why he was wearing his uniform on a weekend, hopped into bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow with the single thought of '_Sirius Black called me his friend_,' on his mind and a silly smile gracing his lips.

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And there you have it, my lovelies! What do you think? I put in a little extra effort for this chapter. Please ignore my laziness and the fact that the Full Moon may not have fallen on the first week of September during Remus' first year. I have no motivation to check the lunar calendar that far back. Oh, and sorry about the little error I made last time about the colour of Remus' eyes; they're supposed to be sky/ocean blue, not grass-green. So… yeah. Just ignore that slip up, if you please. And leave some yummy reviews. I enjoy them so much it hurts! *starts laughing like a maniac* For the next chapter, there will be more Andromeda and angry!Remus :D Smexy ;) Oh and the next time my chapter is late, expect a little yummy minific of our two fave puppies *wink wink* Already working on another one!


	7. Chapter 7: Sirius' Secrets

**_A/N:_** CHAPTER SEVEN IS FINALLY HERE! I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting like that. I had a million things to take care of this past month; my life-long best friend has proposed to me (I'm over the moon about it!) and I'm going over wedding plans as well as studying in my last year and half in college. Then there's also this fic, managing Harry Potter pages on Facebook, and writing this awesome novel I've been working on for a year (more on that later *wink wink*)... It gets to a girl, ya know? But I'd never give up on this fic; it's my baby! I promise you all that no matter what Life throws my way, I will stick to this story until the very end, just like we all stuck with Harry until the very end ;)

**_Warnings_**: Some mentions of child abuse in here guys. And, as usual, there'll be lots of mistakes as it's not beta'd. Also, it looks like there will be no angry!Remus in this chapter. Sorry to those who have been waiting for it. This chapter kinda took a different turn than I expected. But hope you enjoy it all the same!

**_Disclaimer: _**All the characters in this story are the sole property of J.K. Rowling. I do not make money off of writing this story. Only the plot is my own!

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**Chapter 7: Sirius' Secrets**

"Pay attention now, boys and girls," squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick from the front of the classroom as he waved his wand yet again to demonstrate the correct wand movements needed to perform the repairing charm. "No talking in the back there."

Remus rolled his eyes as he heard James' furious whisper to Sirius, "We've already used that trick! It will be too obvious if we try it again…"

No doubt they were discussing another Slytherin prank, and Remus would get an earful if he didn't manage to contribute an idea. But Remus was surprised that Sirius was awake at all, let alone alert enough to plan something as complicated as a prank. The raven-haired Black had slept in that morning until James had finally pulled out his wand and used it to emit extremely loud bangs near Sirius' head, which as expected, scared the boy enough to make him leap several feet out of bed with a howl of outrage. Remus found it particularly funny when Sirius took to chasing James all around the room, flapping his arms about wildly and threatening to turn his friend into an ugly flobberworm, to which the messy-haired boy responded all flobberworms were ugly.

"EXACTLY!" screamed Sirius, fuming as he aimed hex after hex at James' retreating back.

After that exceptionally tiring workout Sirius endured chasing his friend, and still not managing to catch him, Sirius had collapsed to the ground heaving all the contents of last night's party consumption onto the floor and lay there whining for a whole ten minutes while Remus attempted to offer him some assistance and suggestions. Much to Remus' dismay, and after various pointed glares from the proud and haughty boy, Sirius ignored him for the most part, and Remus merely shrugged sighing, and told him he could come back after breakfast to accompany him to their first class if he'd like. Sirius had grunted his appreciation and, shooting a particularly nasty glare in James' direction, returned to his bed, clutching his head and groaning low in his throat.

True to his word, Remus finished his breakfast and returned to the dormitory to retrieve Sirius whom he found fast asleep with his blankets splayed across the floor. It took a few minutes (and several choice swear words on Sirius' part) but the werewolf finally managed to get the sleepy wizard out of bed and into his school robes, hair and teeth brushed and backpack ready for the day ahead. To Remus' relief, the grumpy twelve-year-old didn't direct any of his anger at the werewolf. He seemed to be irritable regarding nothing in particular, and Remus, though finding it quite irksome that the raven-haired boy couldn't show even a little gratitude, was pleased that he wasn't pushed away after being called a friend the night before- no matter how drunk Sirius had been.

"Just use some itching powder or something," said an irritable-sounding Sirius from behind. "And stop bothering me, Potter."

"Itching powder? How will that-?"

"Ask Remus then, I don't know, do I? Got a bloody massive headache!"

"You're no help, Black."

"Remus, you're making cracks in your cup!"

Blinking slowly and staring at his bubblegum-blue cup, Remus couldn't understand how he hadn't noticed what he had been doing. There were long, zig-zagging cracks along the sides and small gaps near the handle where Remus' wand was currently pointing. It looked like it had been stored in the freezer for several weeks. Lily's hand appeared at his right and pulled the cup from his slackened grip. He watched dumbly as his friend waved her wand repairing the mug, and slid it across the table back to him. He stared at the table.

"Having trouble concentrating?"

Lily's whisper was barely audible, but with the Full Moon just a few days away hearing her was not particularly difficult.

"Not exactly," Remus whispered back, still keeping his eyes trained on the table. "Just trying to listen to Sirius and James back there."

There was a snort and Lily threw her long, red hair back behind her. "Whatever they have to say simply can't be more important than this lesson."

Remus nodded and spared a glance behind him. '_I need to know what prank their planning though, so I can offer some suggestions without looking like a fool_.' "So when did you finally get away from the party?" he asked her instead, smirking a little.

She scoffed. "That party was just bogus! Totally uncalled for and irresponsible. I gave that girl a piece of my mind but I doubt she got my-"

"Miss Evans, please!" Flitwick squeaked, balancing precariously on a pile of thick textbooks as he shook his hands impatiently, frowning in Remus' and Lily's direction. "Work silently. If you would like some help, quietly raise your hand and I will come to your desk."

Lily's face was burning brighter than her flaming-red hair as she stammered her apologies to the teacher, fiddling with her wand.

"Was she really Sirius' cousin?" Remus whispered, trying his best not to move his lips as Lily ducked her head shamefully and bit her bottom lip. "That Slytherin girl?"

Lily gave a tiny nod and said no more, getting back to breaking and repairing her flowery cup.

During Transfiguration, Lily sat beside a quiet Ravenclaw with curly blonde hair, and Remus found himself seated next to Peter, who gave him one of his tentative grins as the taller boy grinned back. Remus briefly wondered if Peter had finally gotten annoyed with James and Sirius' distracting whispers and decided to seek refuge with the more dedicated First Year in their dorm. He tested the waters.

"James and Sirius bickering again?"  
Peter nodded. "Trying to decide how to get Snape back for attacking you."

Remus paled; he'd forgotten about James' promise. "They don't have to do that," he said in a small voice.

"Snape won't know. And don't worry; James said you don't have to take any part in it."

Remus shook his head. "It's not that. It's just-they don't have to avenge me. I already stunned Snape afterwards. They don't have to humiliate him any further."

They were interrupted by Professor McGonagall, who tapped her wand against the blackboard and cleared her throat pointedly. Remus made up his mind as he watched his two raven-haired friends sneak peeks at each other and mouthing words, few of which Remus could catch. He was pretty sure he saw Sirius mouth the word "boils" as the two boys sat next to each other and pretended to be working on transfiguring their teapots. He scowled and imagined how angry Snape would get at him if he ever found it that the prank was meant as revenge for the corridor incident.

Double Potions was a double nightmare. Remus was extra clumsy with the Full so close by, and his sense of smell was heightened. He held his breath with every addition of ingredient and as he stirred. Several times, his sweat tickled his eyes, and he was forced to drop his spoon and rub his eyelids, sometimes resulting in more itching if his hands were greased with some disgusting juice or something. His potion hissed, spat and bubbled angrily at him numerous times, and Remus wished more than ever that they were working in pairs so that Lily could help him. What was more annoying than anything else Remus experienced all day was that his clumsiness caused his vomit-coloured potion to start burning holes in his cauldron, and he was forced to abandon all further attempts at saving his concoction and stand at another table as Slughorn emptied the pot and vanished it before the humiliated young werewolf's very eyes. He was given another detention to serve that evening and a ten-foot long essay to hand in next Monday, clearly listing the steps he'd missed and how to avoid making those mistakes in future.

He was immensely thankful that their D.A.D.A class wasn't a practical lesson; they were told to join up in pairs though they were allowed to pick anyone to work with and Remus immediately picked Lily. Professor Johnson asked them all to list the names of defensive spells they had learnt so far on a sheet of parchment, give examples of situations in which they would use those spells, and to sign it with their names. It wasn't for marks, but both Lily and Remus agreed that they would put their best effort into their work, so not much talking was carried out between them for the first half hour of the lesson.

Once they had both decided they were satisfied with their paper, Lily got up and handed it in, walking back to her seat next to Remus with a huge grin on her face.

"I think he liked our paper, Remus!" she exclaimed excitedly to the sandy-blonde and giving a little enthusiastic cheer under the cover of the loud chattering of the other students. "He read a few lines and looked really pleased."

Feeling cheered by the knowledge that the day had at least some positive outcome to it, Remus allowed himself a tiny smile and thanked Lily for her help. He never once glanced in Snape's direction.

Their Herbology quiz went quite well; Remus at least thought he got all the names of the poisonous plants correct, and he met a smiling Lily outside the greenhouse an hour later to share answers.

During lunch, Remus sat himself (somewhat begrudgingly, it was true) beside James and Sirius. The former was still trying to get some ideas out of his friend, while the latter was hungrily shoveling food into his mouth, still looking slightly cranky that he had been forced to attend classes for the day as opposed to being allowed to sleep off his hangover. They both spoke rather respectfully towards Remus as they asked him to pass the salt or juice, though behaved quite rudely to each other. It was only after Remus glanced at James, accidentally catching his eye, that James cleared his throat and nudged Sirius, eliciting an irritated growl from the older boy. Sirius then looked at Remus, straight in the eye, and gave something that looked like a cross between a painful wince and a gracious grin. But staring into his deep, stormy-grey eyes, Remus was able to see how sorry Sirius really was.

"I'm sorry, Remus," the dark-haired boy said so quietly that Remus had the inkling he wouldn't have been able to hear it had it not been for his Lycanthropy. "I was a git, and you don't deserve to be treated the way I treated you."

Blushing furiously for no apparent reason, Remus leaned in towards his friend and whispered back, "It's OK, Sirius; I forgave you a long time ago. By inviting me to your party it actually told me you were sorry and wanted to be friends." He beamed kindly, remembering Sirius' drunken confession. "I mean real friends, not just pranking partners."

Sirius beamed in return, a real, solid smile that lit up his grey eyes and made them look like molten silver. "Yes, even though we are pranking partners and you're lousy at giving your input, Lupin."

Feeling considerably happier and light-hearted, Remus smirked and poured himself some water. "I have been rather stingy with my ideas, haven't I?" he mused out loud. "Tell you what; we could all sit together, me, you, James and Peter and I'll enlighten you with all my wonderful pranking plots. I'll give you everything I have."

Smirking back and winking at him, Sirius nodded. "Sounds like a plan, Mr. Lupin. Tonight, then?"

"Not tonight, got detention with Slughorn. How about this weekend?"

"You've got yourself a deal, mate; I'll pass it on to the others."  
James, of course being right beside Sirius, had heard the entire conversation and grinned mischievously at them winking when Sirius turned to him. Remus smiled and finished his meal feeling like he could fight the force of the moon with his joyful mood.

True to his word to Sybil, James took some time off lunch to teach her some Herbology in the afternoon sun. Remus saw them sitting near the greenhouses, as he and Lily jogged lightly on the grounds, scarves wrapped tightly across their necks, hair whipping about their faces in the chilly October air. Remus was smiling brightly the entire time, and was really enjoying himself despite the cold winds biting into his already aching bones through his shabby jumper. He was so wrapped up in his 'happy' bubble that he failed to notice Lily trying to get his attention until she halted to a stop and pulled Remus back with her, laughing when they both fell over from the force of her jerky stop and Remus' momentum in his jog. Remus emerged confused from the tangle of robes they found themselves in and gave Lily a look of inquiry.

"You zoned out again, "Lily shrugged, still giggling madly. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize what a **heavy** day-sleeper you are."

Blushing only slightly at her words, Remus chuckled along with his friend. "Sorry for falling over you, Lils. I never **dreamed** I would **drift off** like that."

Lily laughed again and shook her head, shoving Remus on the shoulder playfully. "Good one! I bet you know all the day-dreaming jokes, huh?"

"A.D.D jokes," Remus corrected her smiling. "But yeah, I do know how **to capture your attention** with my **eye-opening** funnies."

"Ha-ha! But can we **focus **on helping me up off the ground now?"

Chuckling softly, Remus got up then helped Lily up to her feet as well, smirking when she winked at him. "Shall we continue jogging, or was there a reason you wanted us to tumble to the ground like we did?"

Lily frowned a little. "Well, I was just asking if you wanted to go see Hagrid today. I think he's home right now."

Remus nodded, smiling at the prospect of gaining yet another friend that day. "Yeah, OK. Let's go then."

The walk to the lonely cabin at the edge of the forest was short, and Remus was too busy rehearsing what he was going to say (he was very nervous about meeting new people) to the gamekeeper upon meeting him again after that first day of term, that he didn't notice when they had reached and Lily knocked on the door.

"Who is it? "Came the loud reply accompanied by Linda the dog's deafening barks. "Settle down, you great nancy!" he added to the canine.

Lily cleared her throat and shouted through the door. "It's me, Hagrid. It's Lily, and I brought a friend."

The door opened and the two eleven-year-olds were greeted by a massive-looking man with matted hair and beard. This time Hagrid had already put on one of his kind smiles as he looked Lily and Remus up and down. "Well, in with you, then," he said waving them in and standing back to let them pass. "Nice to see you again, Remus."

Remus beamed up at Hagrid and nodded. "You too, Sir," he said politely, as he sat on one of Hagrid's plump couches. "How are you?"

Hagrid let out a small laugh and shook his head. "That's mighty nice of ya, to call me 'sir' and all that. But you can just call me Hagrid. Lily, yer friend here is too polite fer his own good."

"Yeah, I know," Lily giggled, making Remus flush a deep crimson. "I keep telling him."

"Want some tea, you two? I made some special, just in case someone came along fer a visit."

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"Hagrid was nice," Remus said smiling, as he and Lily walked back to the castle after their visit with their big friend. "He seems to really enjoy his job here, the way he talks about the forest animals…"

"Yeah," Lily agreed quietly. "I just worry for him sometimes. It's not exactly safe, is it, handling dangerous creatures all on your own?"  
"'Suppose not. But I'm sure Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have let him do it if he wasn't sure Hagrid could handle it."

"Do you think we should maybe help him with some of the things? Some of the-you know… care-taking?"

Remus blinked. '_Was she possibly suggesting that we help Hagrid take care of savage human-killing beasts in the forest? Well, at least you know you won't be a target_.' "Er…"

"Not the dangerous ones of course!" Lily hastened to add. "Just, you know… the plant-eating, relatively tame ones. He does everything all by himself and I feel really sorry for him."

Finally nodding- albeit hesitantly- Remus shrugged. "Alright, but we should ask him first, I think. He might not appreciate the inexperienced help from two First Years."

"Oh, I'll bet we'll do fine. We're really good with animals, don't you think?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Are we now?"

"Yeah, I mean we have pets! You told me about your farm back at home, and I have two cats. It shouldn't be that hard to take care of magical creatures. What's a couple of magical properties? We can handle it!"

"They have stingers and explosive ends, Lily. Some of them even have poisonous fangs. Did you look at Linda carefully? She was a Crup!"

"So?"

"Do you even know what a Crup is, Lily?" Remus asked skeptically.

"No, but it doesn't matter, does it? She was a sweet little thing with no intentions whatsoever of harming us."

"She would've attacked you had you been a Muggle!"

"Well it's lucky that I'm a Muggle-born witch then, isn't it? So are we going to help Hagrid, or not?"

Remus sighed. "Fine."

Lily beamed and hugged Remus. "It will be fun, you'll see! Let's go to the library and read up on some of the magical creatures…"

Two hours later found Remus and Lily in the Common Room by the fire, simultaneously doing homework and researching magical creatures' habitats, food preferences and distinctive qualities. Lily was also writing a letter to her parents.

"Do you think we'd be able to-"

"Oh my gosh, I forget about Severus!"

Remus watched as the witch gathered all her books and stuffed them in her bag hurriedly, panting slightly. "You're going to see Severus?"

Lily nodded distractedly, still trying to get all her bag to shut. "Yeah, sorry, Remus. You can join us if you want-"

"Uh, no it's alright. Thanks though."

Lily nodded again, and finally getting her small yellow school bag to close, she slung it over her arm and dashed to the portrait hole, calling over her shoulder, "See you at dinner!"

Just then, Remus heard a loud BAND from somewhere above and, having a strong suspicion that it was from his dorm, he left his books to go check on his friends.

What met him when he opened the door was a rather funny sight; James was on the floor, clutching his sides as he laughed uncontrollably at a furious-looking Sirius, who appeared to be covered in multi-coloured feathers. "What happened?" he asked, trying his best to keep a straight face.

Sirius turned his purple and pink face to him and glared. "What does it bloody look like happened?"

"Er-"

"I'm covered in FEATHERS! James-Pesky-Potter decided we test our prank first… ON ME!"

"Oh."

Remus wanted so badly to ask what the prank was, but thought better of it. Just then Peter's pet Puffskein jumped off its owner's bed and crawled over to Sirius. Apparently, it was trying to cuddle up to the boy, and Sirius wasn't having it. He kicked at the little creature growling, until it sniffed once and turned away again. James, who had stopped laughing long enough to watch this interaction, found it extremely funny and proceeded to cackle madly on the floor next to a fuming Sirius. Finally losing the battle with himself, Remus collapsed in f it of giggles as well, and soon Sirius was yelling at them both to "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

After a whole five minutes of mad cackling and Sirius screaming insults at James and Remus, the latter finally decided to take pity on his long-haired friend and helped him get rid of the sticky feathers- but not before teasingly suggesting that Sirius wear the feathers to dinner in front of all the teachers.

When Sirius was finally feather-free, he and James explained to Remus that they had planned to hex Snape with that spell, but instead of feathers they had decided on turning him into a real live bird.

"But that's really dangerous!" Remus said reproachfully when they explained that Snape would have all the qualities of a real bird for at least an hour before the spell wore off. "What if something goes wrong? What if the spell can't be reversed and he stays a bird forever?"

"Ooh, I'd really love if that happened!" laughed Sirius, and James began chuckling again. But Remus shook his head.

"You'll want to be careful!" he warned them. "Make sure that spell you're-"

"Don't worry, Remus! It will all go fine!" James checked his watch then clapped his hands together business-like. "Where's Pete? It's time for the initiation?"

Sirius snorted.

"Initiation?" Remus questioned, looking confusedly between James and Sirius. "What are you two up to? Is it dangerous?"  
Sirius laughed again ('_He seems to be doing that quite a lot_,' Remus thought to himself uneasily) as James shook his head and said in serious tones, "This is about the four of us, Remus. Something I thought we should do to… strengthen our friendship."

James looked so solemn when he said it that Remus felt a gentle wave of affection rush over him as he stared into hazel eyes. He nodded. "Alright."

Sirius' laugh turned into an incredulous jeer. "I don't know why you're bothering with all that rubbish! We're already friends and we know it. Why make a big deal out of it?"

"Because, Sirius, this is important! We need to make it official so that we remember the initiation whenever we-"

"I'll go look for Pete," Remus piped up suddenly, not wishing to be there when Sirius made a mockery of James' benevolent attempts at friendship ties.

He found the mousy boy playing Wizard's Chess by the fire with a witch their age. She was obviously loosing, but was smiling just the same. Peter, for once, had this proud little smile on his face as he urged his rook forwards to check her King. Remus watched for a while until Peter shyly announced his victory and patted the girl's hand. "Good game, Alice!"

Remus cleared his throat. "Um, sorry to interrupt…" he started uncertainly.

Peter looked up at him and the nervousness in his eyes was back. "Yes, Remus?"  
"Er- James and Sirius… We're doing this thing and… we need you there." '_We need you there? Stupid, stupid, stupid_!'

Peter nodded and got up, leaving Alice to put her chess set away. We they returned to the dorm, James was nowhere to be found and Sirius seemed to be busy with his silky, black hair in front of the mirror. "So, where's James?" Peter asked.

Sirius snorted, still gazing at his reflection as he brushed his long locks. "Bathroom. Reckon he's crying over the fact that I had a go at his stupid initiation idea."

Sitting quietly on his own bed, Remus held back the urge to point out that it wasn't a stupid idea at all; he'd just gained Sirius' friendship and wasn't going to lose it over arguing about their friendship initiation. '_How ironic_!'

They waited quietly- mostly to avoid an argument with Sirius- until James emerged from the bathroom tearless and grinning widely.

"Hello, mates!" he greeted them all, and plopped down on the floor in the middle of the dorm. "Ready to begin? Let's all sit down, shall we, lads?"

Feeling somewhat apprehensive and very self-conscious, the young werewolf sat himself down near his friend- but far enough to avoid his friend's arm if need be. Peter followed, keeping a generous distance between himself and Remus, and Sirius came last, after giving his reflection one last appreciative wink.

Remus saw James roll his eyes and sigh. "Bloody self-absorbed prat," he muttered as Sirius placed himself on James' other side.

Sirius winked again. "That I am, Mr. Potter."

Shaking his head, James wrinkled his nose. He looked around at the semi-circle. "Shall I start, then? Right, the Marauder Initiation is now in order!"- Sirius gave another scoff- "It has come to my attention that Remus Lupin is often left out of our daily Slytherin Pranking sessions. Therefore, I, James Potter propose-"

There was a rather loud snicker and then Sirius was rolling about on the floor next to a bewildered James. If Remus hadn't known any better he would've said that his friend was having a seizer attack.

"Er-Sirius?" he asked tentatively, fearing for his friend's sanity. "What-?"

"It's not funny, Sirius!" James barked at the now wheezing twelve-year-old on the floor. "Why can't you take things seriously for once?"

There was more laughter at that and a snigger from Peter who was eyeing Sirius with mirth sparkling in his small round eyes.

"T-take things seriously?!" gasped Sirius, his eyes now full of tears of laughter. "Really J-James…"

James threw his hands up in the air in exasperation and pulled at his short hair. "Sirius! Stop being such a bloody git!" Then he leapt at his laughing friend, falling on top of him with a growl and attempted to slap the other boy's face. Sirius abruptly stopped laughing and yelled, "HEY!" trying to throw the younger boy off.

Remus watched all this with wide eyes, glancing every now and then to the smallest in the group and wondering what –if anything- he could do to help this situation. Just as he was searching around widely for a solution, James' foot came swinging out of nowhere and hit him in the leg. It didn't hurt, but it made Remus back away in alarm and scramble to his feet.

"GET OFF ME YOU STUPID OAF!"

Sirius was now struggling with James' hands, which were wrapped tightly around the taller boy's arms, preventing him from causing any damage. Sirius' legs were trapped underneath James, but Sirius still managed to aim particularly painful-looking kicks at James' lower torso. Then, all of a sudden, James' knee gave an exceptionally hard poke to Sirius' side, and the latter let out a massive shout of pain, momentarily startling James. This made the younger boy freeze in alarm, which was enough time for Sirius to push him roughly off onto the floor next to them. Landing with a thump on his back, his glasses askew, James groaned and the struggle seized as they both gasped for breath like fish out of water.

They were both miraculously blood-free, and the only sign of physical harm was the way they were clutching their stomachs and arms, rubbing painfully and scowling angrily.

"You couldn't have just listened to me, could you?" James panted furiously, as he lay glaring up the ceiling and clutching his side. "I really w-wanted this to-to be something brilliant. And-and you just ruined it, Sirius!"

"S'not my fault you're-you're pants at explaining it," Sirius gasped out. "Sounded like a load of rubbish to me!"

Hastily stepping in to avoid another physical fight, Remus said loudly, "Dinner! I think it's dinner time, shall we-?"

"It's not dinner for another twenty minutes, Remus," James growled angrily. "But I just wanted this to be a proper thing. Sirius, can-?"

"FINE!" Sirius shouted suddenly. "We'll do your ruddy initiation! But after this don't expect me to hug you lot, or-or-"

"No, nothing like that, Sirius," James assured impatiently. "C'mon, let's finish this…"

Slightly worried that the two dark-haired friends were going to go at it again, Remus sat down several feet from the two, folding his legs in so that his chin lay on top of his knees. He eyed Sirius warily and was ready to jump up if anything else happened.

"OKAY, so before we were rudely interrupted," James adjusted his glasses atop his nose pointedly and hastily went on. "I was mentioning that I had noticed Remus' exclusion from most of our Marauder activities. I therefore conclude we should make an agreement- here and now. We play pranks _together. _We PLAN pranks _together_. We do not play pranks on each other. And last but not least, if any of us are caught, we do not rat the others out. In other words-" he looked very serious all of a sudden "-keep your mouth shut and accept whatever punishment you get, and do not blab about whoever was in on the prank but didn't get caught. Got it? All of you?"

Remus nodded at once; it all seemed fair, and Remus knew he wouldn't ever tell on any of his friends. Sirius, on the other hand, made a derisive noise and kept his mouth shut. James turned to him.

"Is there anything you'd like to add, Sirius?" he asked icily.

"Does this mean we can't play individual pranks on Snivelly?" said Sirius casually, though his eyes went cold.

Before answering, James bit his bottom lip thoughtfully and fiddled with his glasses. Finally he nodded, "Yes, that's what it means. We play pranks together so as not to be in a situation like Remus' with Snivellus. There's only one of him and four of us, he can do the math, I'm sure…"

Remus sighed inwardly and gathered up all his courage before he spoke.

"I have an idea; what if we each have separate roles in these pranks?" James and Sirius looked at him questioningly while Peter nodded nervously beside him. "So, for example; James and Sirius are the ones who actually carry out the prank, Peter makes sure the coast is clear before we implement the plan, and I- I… er… perfect the plans. My job will be to make sure the plans are fool-proof and that there aren't any flaws or confusion. I mean, James, you told me I need to use my brains for our pranks, right? I-I think this is the best way."

He fell silent and nervously watched as James and Sirius exchanged looks, and Peter stared dumbly at him and glanced every so often to the other two.

'_They hate it! James will tell me I'm just trying to ruin his ideas, and Sirius will tell me I'm trying to get out of actually confronting a Slytherin again_. _Oh, Remus, you idiot!_'

"Good one, Remus," James announced suddenly, dragging the startled boy out of his negative thoughts. "I think that's a really good idea- Sirius?" He looked imploringly to his grumpy friend.

Sirius wasted no time in smiling and nodding. "Brilliant. Except that we should all sit down and think of ideas, instead of letting Remus do all the thinking. And I think Remus should participate at least sometimes."

James nodded. "Yeah, so basically, like Remus said; we all have our roles, but we work together for the planning. And if-if we need extra pairs of eyes for example, someone should help Pete with the look-out. And if we need Remus' jinxing skills, Remus needs to join in with the actual jinxing. I like this idea. Pete, you agree?"

Remus looked around to his small friend, who nodded smiling slightly. "Seems fair."

For the second time that night, James clapped his hands together and grinned importantly. "Right, now that that's taken care of, we need to sort out this Snape business. So, Remus? If Snivelly bothers you again-"

"I don't want to get him back," Remus said quickly. "I'll just make sure I'm around you lot so that he doesn't think to hex me. As you said: there are four of us, and only one of him."

"Unless he makes Slytherin friends," Sirius said darkly. "He'll hang around them and that will even out the odds."

"But we have a Slytherin on our side!" James exclaimed excitedly. "Your cousin, Sirius-"

"Let's not bring Andromeda into this-"

"No, wait! She won't actually have to do anything- she can just be the spy! And every time Snivelly or one of his friends come at us, we can use Andromeda as a threat-"

Sirius growled. "Leave my cousin out of this!" he repeated angrily. "She's one of the only family members who don't treat me like bloody goblin piss. I don't want her to get into trouble with those Slytherin goons."

James sighed. "Alright, alright. But we could've used her as a back-up. They'd be pretty scared if the Black heir had friends or allies in Slytherin!"

Remus frowned. "Why would the Slytherins attack you, Sirius?" he asked confusedly. "Don't they know you're family?"

Sirius snorted. "What does that matter to them?" he said miserably. "I hate the lot of them and they don't much fancy being around me either. Mother and Father only invite them over because of tradition, but I've seen the way they look at me- bloody hypocrites acting all respectful towards me in front of my parents because they're scared of them…"

Remus felt like reaching out and touching his friend's arm in sympathy, but at that moment James stood up and announced the time. Sirius got up and followed James out of the dorm, Peter following closely behind.

The young werewolf didn't move. '_So that's how he's treated by his family_,' Remus thought sadly. '_And here I thought he was pampered and given everything he desires, but it seems nobody in his family really likes him_.'

Remus remembered the big parcel he'd received the day after his birthday party. Sirius had thrown it underneath his bed without a second glance after he'd gotten back to the dorm, and Remus had assumed it was because he was going to open it up later. Now, he wondered if the gifts he'd gotten from home had any sentimental value at all. Had Sirius been given loads of meaningless presents all his life? Or was he just embarrassed to show the expensive gifts he receives from his parents? The werewolf thought back to the day James had mentioned in passing that Sirius was the heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Sirius' face had darkened considerably, and he had avoided Remus' gaze.

Getting up off the dormitory floor finally and making his way to the Common Room to collect his school things, Remus made up his mind to buy Sirius something meaningful; something he would actually like because it came from someone who cared about him. Sirius had friends now, and Remus, thanks to Lily, understood what it meant to be a friend.

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After dinner, Remus headed to the dungeons for his detention with Slughorn, with Lily talking animatedly by his side. Remus suspected that she was doing her best to cheer him up, though it was sad to say she wasn't succeeding much.

"And can you believe what the Prewett twins told me?" Lily chattered on, oblivious to Remus' silent pleas to Merlin for her to stop talking. "They said that we would need a teacher's written note giving us permission to visit the restricted section! I don't see anyone giving a couple of First Years permission slips for the restricted section though, do you? Well, Severus tried to act as if he'd lost his, but Madam Pince didn't believe it for a second. She told him to go try that trick on some other librarian, whose heart wasn't set on her books-"

"-Did you hear that?" Remus asked suddenly, partially to stop her talking. "It sounded like voices nearby."

"Well of course there are voices nearby, Remus," she said impatiently. "We're in the dungeons, and the Slytherins' Common Room is near."

"But it sounded too close!" he insisted. "Let's hurry so we don't have to stay here longer than we need to."

As the sandy-blonde had hoped, Lily gave up on her story and quickened her pace with Remus. They were less than a dozen steps away from Slughorn's office however when they heard a nasty-sounding chuckle from behind. Remus, heart in his throat, turned around and his gaze fell on a slightly older Slytherin wizard leaning casually against the wall, arms folded, and a foreboding grin plastered upon his handsome features. He was taller than Remus and had very long, silky blonde hair, which was more white than blonde, and slanting grey eyes that reminded Remus so much of Sirius'. '_Is this another one of Sirius' cousins_?' he wondered, as the older boy stepped forward a couple steps, pulling his wand out of his pocket as he did so.

"Well, well, well…" he said slowly, his voice as silky as his platinum hair, his eyes darting between Lily and Remus as he spoke. "What do we have here? Two young Gryffindors in the Slytherin lair. Tut-tut… What would two little cubs such as yourselves want in a place such as this, hmm?"

Remus was only just aware of his knees shaking as he took an involuntary step back, dragging Lily along with him. He felt her shaking too, and tried to think of a way to assure Lily that he would protect her, despite the fact that he wasn't feeling very brave himself. He cleared his throat and tried his luck.

"Er-I-We were just going to Professor Slughorn's office. We'll just-just be on our way now-"

He was interrupted with another throaty chuckle. "On your way?" he asked smoothly. "Oh, no I don't think so, little cub. Not until you promise to deliver me a little message to Sirius Black."

Frowning, Remus glanced at a terrified-looking Lily then back at the Slytherin. "M-message?"

The older boy nodded. "We're cousins, you see? And, well… His father has very close ties with mine. Since Sirius' Sorting, his father hadn't been too pleased with him, and neither, I'm sorry to say, had the rest of the family. The shame he brought on the family was enough to keep his father locked up in his study for weeks. Wouldn't show his face to the Wizarding World… A Gryffindor Black? It was unheard of! But, no matter, he has now accepted this unfortunate occurrence and decided to over-look Sirius' slip-up." He sneered down his nose at Lily and Remus as if it were their fault the Black heir had been Sorted into Gryffindor.

Lily, who had not spoken during the whole encounter, finally raised her voice. "So, what's the message?" she asked shakily. Remus could feel her trembling against his arm.

The older Slytherin's nasty sneer was back. "Tell him that his father is aware he hasn't read his letter, and that he is still expecting a reply from him soon. Tell him his mother is waiting with a good slashing upon his return for the holidays for associating with filthy half-bloods and blood-traitors. They would have sent a howler, but as the family's reputation was at stake, they refrained… Warn Sirius, won't you? The little Gryffindor-turned Slytherin is in enough trouble as it is." And the tall blonde walked away with an easy gait in the direction of the Slytherin Common Room.

Immediately, Remus turned and pulled Lily along with him the rest of the way to the Slytherin Head's office, feeling ever sorrier for his friend, and wondering how on Earth he was going to deliver such a message with James and Peter sharing their dorm twenty four hours a day.

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Ta-da! Another long chapter for my devoted readers. I had wanted it to feature the Full as well, but ah you know how stories sometimes take a different route… Anyway, I'm happy with the way this turned out, and I hope you are too! Drop a review when you get the chance, will you, my lovelies? Cheers! J


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